THE  MODERN  EXECUTIVE'S  LIBRARY 

PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY 
FOR  BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES 


The  Modern  Executive's  Library 

DANIEL  BLOOMFIELD,  General  Editor 

A  series  of  practical  handbooks  for  executives  and  others 
interested  in  management  and  industrial  relations.  Each 
volume  is  prepared  by  an  expert  in  the  field. 


Management  Series 

PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY  FOR  BUSINESS  EXECU- 
TIVES. Lionel  D.  Edie 

EMPLOYEES7  MAGAZINES.  Peter  F.  O'Shea 
STANDARD  PRACTICE  IN  PERSONNEL  WORK. 

Eugene  J.  Benge 


Industrial  Relations  Series 

EMPLOYMENT  MANAGEMENT.  Daniel  Bloomfield 
MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  MOVEMENTS. 

Daniel  Bloomfield 

PROBLEMS  OF  LABOR.  Daniel  Bloomfield 
Introductions  by  Meyer  Bloomfield 


Other  Books  of  Value  to  Business  Executives 

COMPULSORY  ARBITRATION  OF  INDUSTRIAL 

DISPUTES.  Lamar  T.  Beman 
UNEMPLOYMENT.  Julia  E.  Johnsen 
IMMIGRATION.  Edith  M.  Pheips 
TAXATION.  Lamar  T.  Beman 
CLOSED  SHOP.  Lamar  T.  Beman 
MODERN  SOCIAL  MOVEMENTS.  Savel  Zimand 


THE  MODERN  EXECUTIVE'S  LIBRARY 


PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY 
FOR  BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES 


Compiled  by 

LIONEL  D.  EDIE 
ff 

Associate  Professor  of   History    and    Politics 

Division  of   Current  Industrial  Problems 

Colgate    University 

Author  of   "Current  Social  and  Industrial  Problems" 
and  of    "Principles  of  the   New  Economics" 


NEW  YORK 

THE  H.  W.  WILSON  COMPANY 

LONDON:  GRAFTON  «c  CO. 

1922 


• 


Published  May,  1922 
Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


PREFACE 

This  collection  of  material  has  been  made  with  the  purpose 
of  bringing  together  in  readable  form  some  of  the  important 
and  useful  writings  on  the  application  of  psychology  to  industry. 
The  last  decade  has  seen  the  growth  of  a  body  of  psychological 
ideas  of  great  importance  in  economic  life.  Many  authorities 
have  contributed  the  benefits  of  their  experiments  and  discoveries 
to  a  wide  and  scattered  literature  in  the  field,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  this  symposium  may  aid  in  making  business  men  acquainted 
with  the  more  practical  parts  of  this  literature. 

A  bibliography  has  been  prepared,  its  divisions  corresponding 
with  the  chapters  of  the  book.  For  the  most  part,  the  publi- 
cations which  have  been  the  sources  of  the  quoted  extracts  used 
in  this  volume,  have  not  been  relisted  in  the  bibliography. 

I  have  been  greatly  aided  by  Mr.  Jesse  C.  Neff  in  the 
collection  of  material,  the  selection  of  titles,  and  the  entire 
workmanship  of  the  book.  His  judgment  and  discrimination 
have  played  a  most  helpful  part  in  every  phase  of  the  under- 
taking. Mrs.  NefFs  cooperation  in  the  preparation  of  the 
manuscript  has  been  highly  gratifying,  and  it  is  desired  to 
extend  here  a  full  appreciation  of  her  interest  and  assistance. 

The  sources  and  authorship  of  material  are  recognized  by 
footnotes  accompanying  each  individual  article. 

LIONEL  D.  EDIE. 
February  28,  1922 


520182 


FOREWORD 

The  modern  executive  is  keenly  interested  in  the  baffling 
variations  in  human  conduct  that  confront  him  from  day  to 
day,  but  unless  he  is  familiar  with  the  work  and  literature  of 
our  best  men  in  this  field  he  is  apt  to  become  the  prey  of  cun- 
ning charlatans  and  human  nature  fakirs  who  are  out  to  sell 
all  kinds  of  patent  medicine  schemes  for  the  cure  of  our  labor 
problems  and  who  make  use  of  phrenology,  astrology,  in  fact 
everything  that  can  be  dragged  in  to  make  up  a  "new  science," 
a  "new  psychology"  that  will  "sell"  its  victims. 

Experience  in  handling  men  is  a  great  asset  to  the  executive 
but  that  experience  is  not  enough.  The  wide-awake  executive 
does  not  allow  himself  to  be  dazzled  by  the  selling  talk  of 
character  analysts  and  the  like;  he  weighs  everything  he  reads 
or  hears  carefully,  he  proceeds  cautiously,  and  he  avoids  gen- 
eralizations with  reference  to  human  conduct  because  he  knows 
that  no  two  individuals  are  alike,  that  we  have  only  begun  the 
study  of  psychology  as  it  affects  industrial  relations.  And  so 
all  of  our  observations  must  necessarily  be  tentative ;  we  must 
feel  our  way  carefully. 

Bearing  this  in  mind,  a  notable  service  has  been  done  by 
Professor  Edie  in  preparing  the  present  book  for  executives  and 
those  interested  in  understanding  the  motives  and  behavior  of 
men  who  work  under  the  direction  of  others.  This  book  pre- 
sents the  best  thought  on  the  subject:  its  substance  is  thor- 
oughly practical,  its  viewpoint  sane  and  helpful ;  the  treatment 
is  exhaustive.  Professor  Edie  has  used  fine  discrimination  in 
the  selection  of  his  material  which  comes  from  many  sources, 
all  of  them  authoritative. 

May  23,   1922.  DANIEL  BLOOMFIELD. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

BIBLIOGRAPHY    xiii 

INTRODUCTION * 

l.   THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  BASIS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  RELATIONS 

Scott,  Walter  Dill.  The  Possibilities  Contained  in  the  Psy- 
chological Approach ^ Psychological  Review  5 

McDougall,  William.  The  Driving  Power  of  Human  In- 
stincts    6 

Conklin,  Edwin  Grant.    Society  Founded  on  Instincts 6 

Thorndike,  E.  L.    Guidance  of  the  Primary  Human  Forces.       9 

Hall,  G.  Stanley.  Scope  of  Psychology  in  Industry 

Pedagogical  Seminary  1 1 

Cooley,  Charles  Horton.  Substituting  Higher  Motives  for 
Lower  22 

Dewing,  Arthur  Stone.    Motive  in  Large  Scale  Business 27 

.  EXECUTIVE  MANAGEMENT  AND  THE  MIND  OF  THE  WORKER 

Bryce,  James.  A  Broad  Perspective  in  Human  Control 32 

Wallace,  L.  W.  The  Challenge  to  Modern  Management....  33 
Jenks,  Jeremiah  W.,  and  Clark,  Walter  E.  The  Background 

of  Great  Business  Men 35 

Hall,  G.  Stanley.  The  Profound  Responsibility  of  Business 

Executives Pedagogical  Seminary  36 

Sumner,  William  G.  The  Influence  of  Unanalyzed  Customs 

("Mores")  37 

Swift,  Edgar  James.  Overcoming  the  Power  of  Tradition 

and  Habit 39 

Persons,  Harlow  S.  What  the  Worker  Expects  of  Manage- 
ment  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  42 

Goddard,  Henry  Herbert.  The  Levels  of  Intelligence 44 

Filene,  A.  Lincoln.  Successful  Application  of  Psychological 

Principles Annals  of  the  American  Academy  49 

Feiss,  Richard  A.  The  Basis  of  Scientific  Management. 

% Annals  of  the  American  Academy    52 


x  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

III.  BALKED  INSTINCTS  THE  BASIS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  DISORDERS 

Barker,  Carleton  H.    A  Comprehensive  Description  of  Un- 

derlying  Causes  ........................................     57 

Wallas,  Graham.     The  Basic  Principle  ....................     59 

Taussig,  F.  W.    The  Balked  Instinct  of  Contrivance  ......     63 

»^Speek,  Peter  A.  The  Industrial  Waste  Due  to  Balked  Human 

Nature  ..............  Annals   of   the   American   Academy    66 

Gleason,  Arthur.  The  "Passive  Resistance  of  the  Human 

Spirit"    ................................................     69 

Rompers,  Samuel.  An  Account  of  Labor  Aspirations  ...... 

..........................  .......  Industrial  Management    70 

Williams,  Whiting.  The  Natural  Forces  Behind  Seemingly 

Unreasonable   Behavior  .................................     71 

Rowntree,  B.  Seebohm.  The  Future  of  Industry  ..........  79 

IV.  SATISFIED  INSTINCTS  THE  BASIS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  EFFICIENCY 


Edgar  James.     Bringing  Out  Spontaneous  Initiative. 

.............................................    Scribner's    88 

Babson,  Roger  W.    Fundamental  Urges  and  Drives  .......     91 

^--Hammond,  John  Hays.  Practical  Steps  Toward  Enlisting 

Workers'  Cooperation  ............  Industrial  Management    92 

Webb,  Sidney  and  Beatrice.  As  Viewed  by  a  Leader  of 

Workers    ..............................................     95 

Brierley,  S.  S.  Human  and  Mechanical  Factors  in  Industrial 

Science  ...................  British  Journal  of  Psychology    97 

Organized  Labor's  Desires  .........  Monthly  Labor  Review  98 

V.  THE  ECONOMIC  POWER  OF  THE  CREATIVE  INSTINCT 

^Fisher,  Irving.    Does  the  Worker  Have  a  Creative  Instinct? 

.....................  Annals  of   the  American  Academy  101 

Todd,  Arthur  J.  How  the  Instinct  of  Workmanship  is 

Aroused  ...............  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  104 

Wood,  Charles  W.  Releasing  the  Individual  Workers'  Ener- 

gies  .....................  ..............................  109 

Wolf,  R.  B.  A  Practical  Demonstration  in  Industrial  Engi- 

neering ..........................................  System  no 

VI.  LABOR  TRAITS  AND  CROWD  BEHAVIOR 

Trotter,  William.    The  Characteristics  of  Human  Herds  ____   118 
Hoover,  Herbert  C.  Modern  Industry  Calls  for  Vast  Human 
Associations  ...........................................  119 


CONTENTS  xi 

PAGE 

McDougaU,  William.  Group  Spirit  and  Group  Mind 120 

Commons,  John  R.  Group  Restriction  of  Output 123 

Marshall,  L.  C.  Group  Behavior  and  Labor  Incentives 

Journal  of  Political  Economy  125 

Muscio,  Bernard.  The  Consequences  of  Solidarity  in  Labor 

Groups 131 

THE   PSYCHOLOGICAL  PROBLEM   UNDER  SELF-ASSERTIVE 
MANAGEMENT 

Gary,  E.  H.  The  Primary  Principles  of  Self-Assertive 
Management New  York  Times  135 

A  Questioning  of  These  Principles New  York  Times  137 

A  Psychological  Analysis  by  President  Wilson's  Second  In- 
dustrial Conference  138 

Hoover,  Herbert  C.  Importance  of  the  Contribution  of 
Workers'  Intelligence  to  Management 140 

Fisher,  Irving.  The  Relative  Efficiency  of  the  Democratic 
Method American  Economic  Review  Supplement  141 

Frank,  Glenn.  The  Instinctive  Force  Behind  the  Struggle 
for  Control 142 

Frankfurter,  Felix.  The  Healthy  Organization  of  the  Love 
of  Power Yale  Review  144 

Hoxie,  Robert  F.  Some  Instinctive  Reactions  of  Defense  by 
Labor Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics  147 

Gompers,  Samuel.  Labor's  Purposes  in  Collective  Bargain- 
ing  Industrial  Management  150 

Frey,  John  P.  Labor's  Objections  to  Uncooperative  Man- 
agement  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  152 

Gompers,  Samuel.  Labor  Attitudes  Toward  Scientific  Man- 
agement  American  Federationist  154 

VIII.   THE  BASIS  OF  EMPLOYEE  REPRESENTATION 


,  Royal.    Do  Workers  Want  Knowledge  and  Respon- 
sibility ? Monthly  Labor  Review  159 

^IcCormick,  Cyrus,  Jr.     The  Economic  Effects  of  Trusting 

Workers ; . . . .  Scientific    American  162 

v"Rockefeller,   John    D.,   Jr.     Restoring   Personal    Contact   in 

Large  Scale  Industry Industrial  Management  165 

Basset,  William  R.    Honesty  in  Cooperation 168 

IX.   INTEREST  AND  INCENTIVES  IN  INDUSTRY 

Ordway  and  Metcalf,  Henry  C.   Arousing  Interest  in 
Work 171 


xii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Kitson,  H.  D.     Interest  Aroused  by  Information 

Journal  of  Political  Economy  177 

Morgan,  John  J.  B.  The  Failure  of  Money  Incentives 

Alone American  Journal  of  Sociology  179 

Simons,  A.  M.  Restoring  Pleasure  in  Production 181 

Wolf,  R.  B.  The  Organization  of  Non-Financial  Incentives  187 

X.    PSYCHOLOGICAL  ASPECTS  OF  LABOR  TURNOVER 

Douglas,    Paul.    The   Broad    Significance   of    the   Turnover 

Problem American  Economic  Review  193 

Lescohier,  Don  D.    Industrial  Abuses  Underlying  Turnover    196 

^Reflections  of  a  Worker Industrial  Management  201 

^Kimball,  Harry  W.   Holding  the  Men  Who  Have  No  Trade. 

Industrial  Management  202 

Fisher,  Boyd.    How  to  Reduce  Labor  Turnover 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy  204 

XL   THE  BUILDING  OF  LOYALTY  AND  MORALE 

^Slichter,  Sumner  H.  A  Broad  Survey  of  Psychological 

Causes Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics  209 

Disque,  Brice  P.  Positive  Achievements  Possible  Under 
Most  Adverse  Circumstances System  214 

Commons,  John  R.  The  Successful  Maintenance  of  Loyalty 
and  Morale 221 

XII.  LABOR'S  PART  IN  EMPLOYEES'  SERVICE  WORK 
t^Booker,   John    Manning.     Psychological   Limits   to   Welfare 

Work  Yale  Review  229 

Bloomfield,  Daniel.   Essential  Conditions  of  Employees'  Ser- 
vice Work   231 

Successful   Administration   of   Service  Work 234 

XIII.  THE  MIND  OF  THE  ALIEN  AND  AMERICANIZATION 
Kellor,  Frances.    The  Distinct  Psychological  Background  of 

the  Alien 238 

Miller,  Herbert  Adolphus.  New  Oppressions  for  Old 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy  243 

Bogardus,  Emory  S.  Adaptation  of  Americanization  to  the 

Alien's  Make-up 246 

Aronovici,  Carol.  Futile  Devices  versus  Fundamental  Social 

Contacts 247 


CONTENTS  xiii 

PAGE 

Bloomfield,  Daniel.  Sound  Industrial  Environment  the  Vital 
Americanizing  Influence 249 

XIV.  FACTORS  IN  INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION 

^Commons,   John  R.     The   Need  for  Policies  of  Industrial 

Education 253 

Johnson,  James  F.  Process  of  Training 

Industrial   Management  255 

Kelly,  Roy  W.    Fundamentals  of  Training 257 

XV.  THE  VALUE  OF  PSYCHOLOGICAL  TESTS 

v    Scott,  Walter  Dill.    The  Psychology  of  Individual  Differences 

Psychological  Review  265 

^Hollingworth,  H.  L.    Can  Workers  Be  Tested?— Causes  of 

Successes  and  Failures Business  Personnel 

Myers,  Charles  S.    Variety  of  Practical  Applications 275 

Link,  Henry  C.   Vocational  Selection  by  Psychological  Tests  280 
Yoakum,  C.  S.  and  Yerkes,  R.  M.    Industrial  Lessons  from 

Army  Mental  Tests 285 

Thorndike,  E.  L.    The  Need  of  Constant  Verifications 

Science  286 

Kelly;  Roy  W.    A  Caution  Against  Over- Expectations 289 

Scott,  Walter  Dill.    Job  Analysis  to  Correlate  with  Human 

Analysis Annals    of    the   American    Academy  290 

Chapman,  J.  Crosby.     The  Functions  of  Trade  Tests 292 

*""Kitson,  H.  D.     Limitations   of  Mental  Tests  * * 

School    Review  293 

XVI.  THE  FAR-REACHING  CONSEQUENCES  OF  FEAR  IN  INDUS- 
TRY 

•xBloomfield,  Meyer.  The  Menace  of  the  Fear  Discipline... 

American  Labor  Legislation  Review  297 

Williams,  Whiting.  Effects  of  Fear  on  the  Worker's  Think- 
ing  American  Labor  Legislation  Review  298 

Rivers,  W.  H.  R.  Industrial  Lessons  from  War  Dangers  and 
Fears  295 

Tead,  Ordway.  Relations  Between  Fear  and  Output 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy  302 

A  Technique  for  Continuous  Plant  Operation 

American  Labor  Legislation  Review  303 

Commons,  John  ,R.  Security  of  the  Job  by  New  Banking 
Standards Survey  306 


xiv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XVII.  FATIGUE  CONTROL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  EFFICIENCY 

-'Gilbreth,  Frank  B.  and  Lillian  M.    The  Economic  Loss  from 

Unnecessary  Fatigue Journal  of  Industrial  Hygiene  311 

Health,  Efficiency  and  Fatigue  312 

Signs  and  Symptoms  of  Fatigue 317 

^Spaeth,  Reynold  A.    The  Prevention  of  Fatigue 

Industrial    Management  320 

flyers,  Charles  S.   Practical  Applications 325 

Goldmark,  Josephine.    Physiology  of  Monotony 326 

Lee,  Frederick  S.    Scientific  Control  of  Fatigue  Factors....  328 
Watson,  J.  B.    Some  Guiding  Purposes  in  Fatigue  Studies..  332 
HPolakov,  Walter  N.    Standard  Objectives  for  Reduction  of 

Fatigue  Industrial  Management  333 

XVIII.  THE  PATHOLOGY  OF  THE  WORKER 

Southard,  E.  E.    The  Mental  Hygiene  of  Industry 

Industrial   Management  337 

Jarrett,  M.  C.    Report  of  the  Engineering  Foundation 341 

Jarrett,  M.  C.    Deficiencies  of  Character  Among  Employees. 
Medicine  and  Surgery  347 

A  Reasonable  Application  of   Psychiatry  to  Industry 

Monthly  Labor  Review  350 

Adler,  Herman  P.    Understanding  Industrial  Misfits 

Mental  Hygiene  352 

"""Hart,  Bernard.    Psychological  Phases  of   Industrial  Misbe- 
havior   357 

fffealy,  William.     Mental  Conflicts   and  Misconduct 359 

XIX.  CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  ABNORMAL  PSYCHOLOGY  TO  BUSINESS 
PROBLEMS 

Tansley,  A.  G.    Relation  of  Abnormal  Psychology  to  Every- 
day Life '. 363 

Powers,  M.  J.     The  Industrial  Cost  of  Subnormal  and  Ab- 
normal Employees 364 

Gilbreth,   Frank  B.  and  Lillian  M.    Some  Major  Types  of 

Maladjustment     Independent  367 

—  Smith,  G.  Elliott  and  Pear,  T.  H.  Shell  Shock  and  Its  Lessons  372 

Ogburn,  William  F.    A  Condensed  Analysis  of  Psychological 

Mechanism American   Economic   Review  375 

--^Myers,  Charles  S.    The  Psychological  Explanation  of  Men's 

Peculiarities 384 

INDEX    < 389 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

With  few  exceptions,  the  articles  reprinted  in  this  volume  have  not 
been  included  in  this  bibliography.  They  are  listed  in  the  table  of  con- 
tents, and  the  source  of  each  article  is  given  in  the  footnote  appended  to 
the  title. 

I.    THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  BASIS  OF  INDUSTRIAL 
RELATIONS 

Baillie,  James  B.     Studies  in  human  nature.     Harcourt,  Brace 

&  Howe.    New  York.    1921. 
Boas,  Franz.    The  mind  of  primitive  man.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

New  York.    1911. 
Edman,    Erwin.      Human    traits    and    their    social    significance. 

Houghton,  Mifflin  Co'.     Boston.     1920. 
Gleason,  Arthur.    What  the  workers  want.     Harcourt,  Brace  & 

Howe.     New  York.     1920. 
Herter,  Christian.     Biological  aspects  of  human  problems.     The 

Macmillan   Co.     New  York.     1911. 
Hobson,  John  A.     Work  and  wealth :  a  human  valuation.    The 

Macmillan  Co.     New  York.     1914. 
James,  William.    Principles  of  psychology.    2  vol.    Henry  Holt 

&   Co.     New   York.      1913. 
Parmelee,   Maurice  F.     The  science  of  human  behavior.     The 

Macmillan   Co.     New  York.     1913. 
Paton,  Stewart.     Human  behavior  in   relation  to  the  study  of 

educational,    social   and    ethical    problems.      Scribner.      New 

York.     1921. 
Putnam,    James    J.      Human    motives.      Little,    Brown    &    Co. 

Boston.     1915. 

Robinson,  James  Harvey.     The  mind  in  the  making:  the  rela- 
tion of  intelligence  to  social  reform.     Harper.     New  York. 

1921. 
Russell,  Bertrand.    Why  men  fight,    p.  3-41.    Century  Co.    New 

York.     1917. 
Sombart,  Werner.     The  quintessence  of  capitalism:  a  study  of 

the   history   and   psychology   of    the    modern   business    man. 

Button.     New  York.     1915. 


xvi  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Watts,   Frank.     Introduction  to  the  psychological  problems  of 
industry.     Allen.     London.     1921. 


II.    EXECUTIVE  MANAGEMENT  AND  THE  MIND 
OF  THE  WORKER 

Bloomfield,  Meyer.  Management  and  men.  Century  Co.  New 
York.  1919. 

Dartmouth  College.  Tuck  School  of  Administration  and 
Finance.  Addresses  and  discussions  at  the  Conference  on 
Scientific  Management,  October  12-14,  1911.  1912. 

Frankel,  Lee  Kaufer,  and  Fleisher,  Alexander.  The  human 
factor  in  industry.  The  Macmillan  Co.  New  York.  1920. 

Freeman,  Richard  Austin.  Social  decay  and  regeneration. 
Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.  Boston.  1921. 

Gantt,  Henry  L.  Industrial  leadership.  Yale  University  Press. 
New  Haven,  Conn.  1916. 

Knoeppel,  Charles  E.  Laws  of  industrial  organization.  Indus- 
trial management.  58  :  265-8,  381-3,  494-8 ;  59  : 43-7,  145-8, 
184-91.  O.  'i9-Mr.  '20. 

Leiserson,  William  M.  Relations  between  employer  and  em- 
ployee. Monthly  Labor  Review.  9  :  1195-1204.  O.  '19. 

Northcott,  Clarence  H.    The  human  factor  in  industry.     Indus- 
trial management.     62  : 195-8.     O.  '21. 
Continued   thru   succeeding   numbers. 

Parker,  Carleton  H.  The  technique  of  American  industry. 
Atlantic  Monthly.  125  :  12-22.  Ja.  '20. 

Taylor,  Frederick  W.  Principles  of  scientific  management. 
Harper.  New  York.  1911. 

Veblen,  Thorstein.  The  instinct  of  workmanship  and  the  state 
of  the  industrial  arts.  p.  299-355.  B.  W.  Huebsch.  New 
York.  1914. 

Wallas,  Graham.  Human  nature  in  politics.  Houghton,  MifHin 
Co.  Boston.  1909. 

Ware,  Fabian.  The  worker  and  his  country.  E.  Arnold.  Lon- 
don. 1912. 

Webb,  Sidney.  The  works  manager  of  today.  Longmans, 
Green  &  Co.  New  York.  1917. 

Williams,  Whiting.  Europe  at  work.  Scribner's  Magazine. 
71  :  131-44.  F;  '22,  and  succeeding  numbers. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xvii 


III.    BALKED  INSTINCTS  THE  BASIS  OF  INDUSTRIAL 
DISORDERS 

Brissenden,  Paul  F.  The  I.  W.  W. :  a  study  of  American  syn- 
dicalism. (Columbia  University  studies  in  history,  economics 
and  public  law.)  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.  New  York.  1920. 

Brooks,  John  G.  American  syndicalism :  the  I.  W.  W.  The 
Macmillan  Co.  New  York.  1913. 

Cory,  Herbert  E.  The  intellectuals  and  the  wage  workers.  Sun- 
wise Turn.  New  York.  1919. 

Dunham,  Frances  L.  Instinct  and  conduct.  National  Conference 
of  Social  Work.  Report.  1920  : 91-9. 

Freeman,  Richard  Austin.  Social  decay  and  regeneration. 
Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.  Boston.  1921. 

McDougall,  William.  An  introduction  to  social  psychology. 
I3th  ed.  Luce  &  Co.  Boston.  1918. 

Patten,  Simon  N.  The  mechanism  of  mind.  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy.  71  :  202-15.  My.  '17. 

Watson,  John  B.  Behavior :  an  introduction  to  comparative 
psychology.  Henry  Holt  &  Co.  New  York.  1914. 

White,  William  A.  The  mechanism  of  character  formation. 
The  Macmillan  Co.  New  York.  1916. 


IV.     SATISFIED   INSTINCTS  THE  BASIS  OF  INDUS- 
TRIAL EFFICIENCY 

Briscoe,  Norris  A.    The  economics  of  efficiency.    The  Macmillan 

Co.  New  York.  1914. 
Gilbreth,    Lillian    M.      The    psychology    of    management.      The 

Macmillan  Co.     New  York.     1918. 
Henderson,   Charles   R.     Citizens  in  industry.     D.   Appleton  & 

Co.     New  York.     1915. 
Kolnai,  Aurel.    Psychoanalysis  and  sociology.    Harcourt,   Brace 

and  Co.    New  York.    1921. 
Meeker,   Royal.     Employees'    representation   in   management  of 

industry.    Monthly  Labor  Review.    10  1305-18.    F.  '20;  Same. 

American   Economic   Review.      10  :  sup  89-102.     Mr.   '20. 
Mitchell,  Wesley  C.    Human  behavior  and  economics:  a  survey 

of  recent  literature.     Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics.     29  : 

1-47.     N.  '14. 


xviii  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Myers,  Charles  S.  Mind  and  work.  Chap.  VI.  p.  135-70.  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons.  New  York.  1921. 

Scott,  Walter  Dill.  Increasing  human  efficiency  in  business. 
The  Macmillan  Co.  New  York.  1914. 

Seager,  Henry  R.  The  human  factor  in  the  operation  of  in- 
dustry. Mechanical  Engineering.  41  .'886-7.  N.  '19. 

Thompson,  C.  Bertrand.  Scientific  management.  Harvard  Univ. 
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Valentine,  Robert  G.  The  human  element  in  production.  Amer- 
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Young,  Charles  N.  Creative  ability  and  its  compensation.  In- 
dustrial management.  59  : 33-5.  Ja.  '20. 


V.    THE  ECONOMIC  POWER  OF  THE  CREATIVE 
INSTINCT 

Basset,  William  R.    Harnessing  the  creative  instinct.     In  When 

the  workmen  help  you  manage.    Century.    New  York.    1919. 
Chellew,  Henry.     Human  and  industrial  efficiency.     G.  P.  Put- 
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Colvin,  Fred  H.    Labor  turnover,  loyalty  and  output.    McGraw. 

New  York.     1919. 
Gantt,    Henry  L.     Organizing   for  work.     Harcourt,    Brace   & 

Howe.     New  York.     1919. 
Marot,  Helen.     The  creative  impulse  in  industry:  a  proposition 

for  educators.     E.  P.  Button  &  Co.     New  York.     1918. 
Munsterberg,     Hugo.       Psychology     and     industrial     efficiency. 

Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.     Boston.     1913. 
Parker,  Carleton  H.     Motives  in  economic  life.    In  The  casual 

laborer  and  other  essays.     Harcourt,  Brace  &  Howe.     New 

York.   1920. 
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sense  in  working  with  men.    p.  110-33.   The  Ronald  Press  Co. 

New  York.  1921. 
Simons,  A.  M.     Personnel  relations  in  industry,     p.  42-4,  117-20. 

The  Ronald  Press  Co.  New  York.  1921. 
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BIBLIOGRAPHY  xix 


VI.    LABOR  TRAITS   AND   CROWD   BEHAVIOR 

Ardzrooni,  Leon.     The  philosophy  of  the  restriction  of  output. 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy.    91  :  70-5.     S.  '20. 
Brooks,  John  G.     Labor's  challenge  to  the  social  order.     The 

Macmillan  Co.     New  York.     1920. 
Dewey,  John.    Human  nature  and  conduct.     Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

New  York.     1921. 
Growing  responsibility  of  labor.    Round  Table.    10  :  276-92.    Mr. 

'20. 
Jastrow,   Joseph.     The  psychology   of   conviction:    a   study  of 

beliefs  and  attitudes.     Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.     Boston.     1918. 
Le  Bon,  Gustave.     The  crowd:  a  study  of  the  popular  mind. 

The  Macmillan  Co.     New  York.     1910. 

Lee,  Gerald  S.    Crowds :  a  moving  picture  of  democracy.    Double- 
day,  Page  &  Co.    Garden  City,  L.I.     1913. 
Myers,   Charles   S.     Mind  and   work.     G.    P.   Putnam's   Sons. 

New  York.     1921. 

See   chapter   on    restriction   of   output. 
Ross,  Edward  A.    Social  psychology.    The  Macmillan  Co.    New 

York.     1908. 
Tead,  Ordway.    Trade  unions  and  efficiency.    American  Journal 

of  Sociology.    22  : 30-7.    Jl.  '16. 


VII.    THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  PROBLEM  UNDER  SELF- 
ASSERTIVE  MANAGEMENT 

Baker,  Ray  Stannard.  The  new  industrial  unrest:  reasons  and 
remedies.  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.  Garden  City,  L.I.  1920. 

Bloomfield,  Daniel.  Selected  articles  on  problems  of  labor. 
(Handbook  Series).  H.  W.  Wilson  Co.  New  York.  1920. 

Chenery,  William  L.  Industry  and  human  welfare.  The  Mac- 
millan Co.  New  York.  1922. 

Gleason,  Arthur  H.  What  the  workers  want :  a  study  of  British 
labor.  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Howe.  New  York.  1920. 

Goodrich,  Carter  L.  The  frontier  of  control :  a  study  in  British 
workshop  politics ;  with  a  foreword  by  R.  H.  Tawney.  Har- 
court, Brace  and  Co.  New  York.  1922. 


xx  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Hoxie,   Robert  F.     Trade  unionism  in  the  United   States.     D. 

Appleton  &  Co.     New  York.     1917. 
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1919. 
Rogers,  Francis.    Personality  and  individuality.    North  American 

Review.    214:514-17.    O.  '21. 


VIII.    THE  BASIS  OF  EMPLOYEE  REPRESENTATION 

Cowdrick,  E.  S.  Successful  trial  of  industrial  representation 
plan.  Industrial  Management.  59  :  123-5.  F-  '20. 

Crozier,  William.  Labor's  interest  in  administration.  Annals 
of  the  American  Academy.  91  : 153-8.  S.  '20. 

Drever,  James.  The  psychology  of  industry.  E.  P.  Button  and 
Co.  New  York.  1922. 

Kline,  Burton.  Employee  representation  in  Standard  Oil.  In- 
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Leitch,  John.  Man-to-man.  B.  C.  Forbes  Co.  New  York. 
1919. 

National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools.  A  preliminary 
survey  of  the  problem  of  representation  in  industry.  Con- 
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Rogers,  Sherman.  Employee  representation :  success  or  failure  ? 
Outlook.  128  :  689-92.  Ag.  31,  '21. 

Simons,  A.  M.  Personnel  relations  in  industry,  p.  260-330.  The 
Ronald  Press  Co.  New  York.  1921. 

Tead,  Ordway  and  Metcalf,  Henry  M.  Personnel  administra- 
tion, p.  407-516.  The  McGraw  Hill  Book  Co.  New  York.  1920. 


IX.     INTEREST  AND  INCENTIVES  IN  INDUSTRY 

Dewey,    John.      Interest    and    effort    in    education.      Houghton, 

Miflflin  Co.     Boston.     1913. 
Ferguson,  Homer  L.   What  makes  men  give  their  best?     System. 

39  :  368-70.    Mr.  '21. 
Kitson,  Harry  D.     Economic  implications  in   the  psychological 

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Ap.  '20. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xxi 

Marot,  Helen.     Production  and  the  preservation  of   initiative. 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy.    91  :  14-18.    S.  '20. 
Pound,  Arthur.   The  iron  man.  Atlantic  Monthly,  Series  October 

1921  and  five  succeeding  numbers. 
Tipper,   Harry.     The   labor   problem.     Journal   of    the   Society 

of   Automotive   Engineers.     5  : 395-401.     D.   '19. 


X.    PSYCHOLOGICAL  ASPECTS  OF  LABOR  TURNOVER 

Adams,  James  R.  Common  sense  attack  on  turnover.  Industrial 
Management.  62  : 298-302.  N.  '21. 

Alexander,  Magnus  W.  Hiring  and  firing,  its  economic  waste 
and  how  to  avoid  it.  Annals  of  the  American  Academy. 
65  :  128-44.  My.  '16. 

Beveridge,  William  H.  Unemployment :  a  problem  of  industry. 
3d  edition.  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.  New  York.  1912. 

Brissenden,  Paul  F.  and  Frankel,  Emil.  The  mobility  of  in- 
dustrial labor.  Political  Science  Quarterly.  35  : 566-600.  D. 
'20. 

Eglee,  Charles  H.  The  industrial  unrest.  Journal.  Boston 
Society  of  Civil  Engineers.  6  : 317-37.  N.  '19. 

Johnsen,  Julia  E.  Unemployment.  2d  ed.  rev.  and  enl.  H.  W. 
Wilson  Co.  New  York.  1921. 

Keely,  H.  L.  Why  men  quit.  Industrial  Management.  62  :  223-7. 
O.  '21. 

Myers,  Charles  S.  Industrial  overstrain  and  unrest.  Engi- 
neering and  Industrial  Management.  2  : 483-5.  O.  16,  '19. 


XT.    THE  BUILDING  OF  LOYALTY  AND   MORALE 

Commons,   John   R.,   and  others.     Industrial   government.     The 

Macmillan   Co.     New    York.      1921. 
Conway,  Sir  Martin.    The  crowd  in  peace  and  war.    Longmans, 

Green  &  Co.     New   York.     1915. 
Kimball,    Harry   W.      What    the    workers    think    about    capital. 

Industrial   Management.     59  : 245-7.     March,    1920. 
McDougall,  William.    The  group  mind,  a  sketch  of  some  of  the 

principles   of   collective   psychology.     G.   P.   Putnam's   Sons. 

New  York.     1920. 


xxii  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Simons,  A.  M.    Personnel  relations  in  industry,    p.  171-91.    The 

Ronald  Press  Co.  New  York.  1921. 
Tead,  Ordway  and  Metcalf,  Henry  M.   Personnel  administration. 

p.  67-134.  The  McGraw  Hill  Book  Co.  New  York.  1920. 
Trotter,  William.     The  instincts  of  the  herd  in  peace  and  war. 

rev.  ed.     The  Macmillan  Co.     New   York.     1920. 

XII.    LABOR'S    PART    IN    WELFARE   WORK 

Bloomfield,  Daniel.  Labor  maintenance:  a  practical  handbook 
of  employee's  service  work.  Ronald  Press  Co.  New  York.  1920. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Bulletin  250  (Misc. 
ser.)  :  1-139.  'i9-  Welfare  work  for  employees  in  indus- 
trial establishments  in  the  United  States. 

XIII.    THE  MIND  OF  THE  ALIEN  AND  AMERICANI- 
ZATION 

Commons,  John  R.  Immigration  and  its  economic  effects.  In 
United  States  Industrial  Commission  Reports.  15.  1901. 

Davis,  Philip.  Immigration  and  Americanization.  Ginn  and  Co. 
New  York.  1920. 

Drachsler,  Julius.  Democracy  and  assimilation:  the  blending 
of  immigrant  heritages  in  America.  The  Macmillan  Co. 
New  York.  1920. 

Jenks,  Jeremiah  W.  and  Lauck,  W.  Jett.  The  immigration  prob- 
lem: a  study  of  American  immigration  conditions  and  needs. 
3d  edition.  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Co.  New  York.  1913. 

Leiserson,  William  M.  Adjusting  immigrant  and  industry. 
(Americanization  series).  Harper.  New  York.  1921. 

Means,  Philip  A.  Racial  factors  in  democracy.  Marshall  Jones 
Co.  Boston.  1919. 

Panunzio,  Constantine  M.  The  soul  of  an  immigrant.  The 
Macmillan  Co.  New  York.  1921. 

Park,  Robert  E.  and  Miller,  Herbert  A.  Old  world  traits 
transplanted.  Harper.  New  York.  1921. 

Pillsbury,  Walter  B.  The  psychology  of  nationality  and  inter- 
nationalism. D.  Appleton  &  Co.  New  York.  1919. 

Talbot,  Winthrop.  Who's  who  in  industry  in  America.  Indus- 
trial Management.  59  :  138-42.  F.  '20. 

Thompson,  Frank  V.  Schooling  of  the  immigrant.  Harper. 
New  York.  1920. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xxiii 

Westermarck,  Edward  A.  Origin  and  development  of  the  moral 
ideas.  2d  edition.  2  vols.  The  Macmillan  Co.  New  York. 
1917. 

Yezierska,  Anzia.  America  and  I.  Scribner's  Magazine.  171  : 157- 

62.     F.   '22. 


XIV.  FACTORS    IN    INDUSTRIAL    EDUCATION 

Allen,  Charles  R.  The  instructor,  the  man  and  the  job.  p.  319- 
33.  J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.  Philadelphia.  1919. 

Clayton,  Charles  T.  Training  that  promotes  production.  In- 
dustrial Management.  57:311-13.  Ap.  '19. 

Dewey,  John.  Democracy  and  education :  an  introduction  to  the 
philosophy  of  education.  The  Macmillan  Co.  New  York. 
1916. 

Fish,  Elmer  H.  How  to  manage  men ;  the  principles  of  employ- 
ing labor.  Engineering  Magazine  Co.  New  York.  1920. 

Fuld,  Leonhard  F.  Service  instruction  of  American  corporations. 
United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bulletin.  1916,  34  : 

1-73- 

Hobson,  John  A.  Work  and  wealth :  a  human  valuation,  p.  44- 
59.  The  Macmillan  Co.  New  York.  1914. 

loteyko,  Josefa.  The  science  of  labor  and  its  organization. 
E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.  New  York.  1919. 

Kennedy,  Dudley  R.  Training  the  foremen  of  industry.  Indus- 
trial Management.  59  : 67-70.  Ja.  '20. 

Mallary,  Benjamin  E.  The  foreman:  his  training  and  educa- 
tion. Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  91  :  121-6.  S.  '20. 

Smith,  R.  C.  Training  the  immigrant  in  industry.  United 
Slates.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Bulletin.  No.  196. 
My.  '19. 

United  States.  Training  Service.  Bulletins  nos.  i,  4,  6,  13. 
Gov't.  Ptg.  Office,  Washington,  D.C.  . 

XV.  THE  VALUE  OF  PSYCHOLOGICAL  TESTS 

Benge,  Eugene  J.     Applying  mental  tests  successfully.     100%. 

14  :  8o-f.    Mr.  '20. 
Kelly,  Roy  Wilmarth.  Hiring  the  worker.  The  Ronald  Press  Co. 

New  York.     1918. 


xxiv  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Kemble,  William  Fretz.  Choosing  employees  by  mental  and 
physical  tests.  Engineering  Magazine  Co.  New  York.  1917. 

Ruml,  Beardsley.  Extension  of  selective  tests  to  industry.  An- 
nals of  the  American  Academy.  81  : 38-46.  Ja.  '19. 

Scott,  Walter  Dill.  Selection  of  employees  by  means  of  quanti- 
tative determinations.  Annals  of  the  American  Academy. 
65  :  182-93.  My.  '16. 

Shefferman,  Nathan  W.  Employment  methods.  The  Ronald 
Press  Co.  New  York.  1920. 

Tevis,  M.  Psychological  tests  of  industrial  capacities.  Scientific 
American  Monthly.  4  :  208-11.  S.  '21. 

Thorndike,  Edward  L.  A  group  examination  of  intelligence 
independent  of  language.  Journal  of  Applied  Psychology. 
3  :  13-32.  Mr.  '19. 

Yoakum,  Clarence  S.  and  Yerkes,  Robert  M.  Army  mental 
tests.  Henry  Holt  &  Co.  New  York.  1920. 


XVI.    THE  FAR-REACHING  CONSEQUENCES  OF  FEAR 
IN  INDUSTRY 

Cannon,  Walter  B.     Bodily  changes  in  pain,  hunger,  fear  and 

rage.     D.  Appleton  &  Co.     New  York.     1920. 
King,     William     Lyon     MacKenzie.       Industry     and     humanity. 

p.  230-40.    Houghton,   Mifflin  Co.  Boston.   1918. 
Rivers,  William  H.  R.     Instinct  and  the  unconscious.    The  Mac- 

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Williams,    Whiting.     What's   on    the    workers'    mind.     Scribner. 

New  York.     1920. 


XVII.     FATIGUE    CONTROL   AND   INDUSTRIAL 
EFFICIENCY 

Bogardus,    Emory    S.      The    relation    of    fatigue    to^  industrial 

accidents.     American  Journal  of  Sociology.     17  :  206-22,  351- 

75,   512-39.     S.  'n-Ja.   '12. 
Frankfurter,  Felix  and  Goldmark,  Josephine  C.     The  case  for 

the  shorter  work  day.     National  Consumers'  League.     New 

York.     1916. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xxv 

Gantt,  Henry  L.    Work,  wages  and  profits.    2d  edition  revised. 

Engineering  Magazine  Co.     New  York.     1913. 
Gilbreth,  Frank  B.    Fatigue  study  :  the  elimination  of  humanity's 

greatest  unnecessary  waste.     Sturgis  and  Walton  Co.     New 

York.     1916. 
Leverhulme,  William  H.  L.    The  six-hour  day  and  other  indus- 

trial  questions.     Chap.    I   &   II.     Henry  Holt  &  Co.     New 

York.     1919. 
Link,  Henry  C.     A  practical  study  in  industrial  fatigue.     Jour- 

nal of  Industrial  Hygiene,     i  :  233-)-.     S.  '19. 
Mosso,    A.      Fatigue.      English    translation.      Allen.      London. 


Muscio,    Bernard.      Fluctuations    in    mental    efficiency.      British 

Journal  of   Psychology.     10  :  327-44-     '20. 
National  Industrial  Conference  Board.     Hours  of  work  as  re- 

lated to  output  and  health  of   workers.     Research   Reports 

Nos.  4,  7.     Boston.     1918. 
Offner,  Max.     Mental  fatigue,  trans,  by  G.  M.  Whipple.     War- 

wick and  York.     Baltimore.     1911. 
Spaeth,    R.    A.     The   prevention    of    fatigue    in    manufacturing 

industries.     Journal  of   Industrial  Hygiene,     i  :  435-47-     Ja. 

'20. 
Spaeth,  R.  A.     The  problem  of  fatigue.     Journal  of  Industrial 

Hygiene,     i  :  22.     '19. 
Has    an    extensive   bibliography. 

Thorndike,  Edward  L.   Educational  psychology.  Vol.  III.   p.  408. 
Teachers   College,   Columbia   University.    1914. 


XVIII.    THE  PATHOLOGY  OF  THE  WORKER 

Adler,  A.  The  neurotic  constitution:  outlines  of  a  comparative 
individualistic  psychology  and  psychotherapy.  Kegan  Paul, 
Trench,  Triibner  &  Co.  London.  1918. 

Bailey,  Pearce.  Efficiency  and  inefficiency — a  problem  in  med- 
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Ball,  Jau  Don.  The  correlation  of  neurology,  psychiatry,  psy- 
chology, and  general  medicine  as  scientific  aids  to  industrial 
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Campbell,  C.  M.  Mental  hygiene  in  industry.  Journal  of  In- 
dustrial Hygiene,  p.  468-78.  Jl.  '21. 


xxvi  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Fisher,  Boyd.  Has  mental  hygiene  a  practical  use  in  industry. 
Journal  of  Industrial  Hygiene,  p.  479-96.  Jl.  '21. 

Jarrett,  Mary  C.  Shellshock  analogues:  Neuroses  in  civil  life 
having  a  sudden  and  critical  origin.  Medicine  and  Surgery. 
2  : 266.  Mr.  '18. 

Jastrow,  Joseph.  Character  and  temperament.  D.  Appleton 
&  Co.  New  York.  1915. 

Kober,  George  M.  and  Hanson,  William  C.  Diseases  of  occu- 
pation and  vocational  hygiene.  Blakiston  &  Co.  Phila- 
delphia. 1916. 

MacCurdy,  John  T.  The  psychology  of  war.  E.  P.  Button 
&  Co.  New  York.  1918. 

Parmelee,  Maurice  F.  Personality  and  conduct.  Moffat,  Yard 
&  Co.  New  York.  1918. 

Paton,  Stewart.  The  psychology  of  the  radical.  Yale  Review, 
n.s.  ii  -.89-101.  O.  '21. 

XIX.    CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  ABNORMAL  PSYCHOLOGY 
TO  BUSINESS  PROBLEMS 

Brill,  A.  A.  Fundamental  conceptions  of  psychoanalysis.  Har- 
court,  Brace  and  Co.  New  York.  1922. 

Cobb,  Stanley.  Applications  of  psychiatry  to  industrial  hygiene. 
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Freud,  Sigmund.  Psychopathology  of  everyday  life.  Authorized 
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Goddard,  Henry  H.  Psychology  of  the  normal  and  sub-normal. 
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Kempf,  Edward  J.  Psychopathology.  C.  V.  Mosby  Co.  St. 
Louis,  Mo.  1920. 

Marot,  Helen.  The  creative  impulse  in  industry:  a  proposition 
for  educators.  E.  P.  Button  &  Co.  New  York.  1918. 

Prince,  Morton.  The  unconscious:  the  fundamentals  of  human 
personality  normal  and  abnormal.  The  Macmillan  Co.  New 
York.  1914. 

Rosanoff,  Aaron  J.,  ed.  Manual  of  psychiatry,  sth  edition.  John 
Wiley  &  Sons.  New  York.  1920. 

Southard,  Elmer  E,  The  modern  specialist  in  unrest.  Indus- 
trial Management.  59  : 462-6.  Je.  '20. 

Southard,  Elmer  E.  Trade  unionism  and  temperament.  Indus- 
trial Management.  59  : 265-70.  Ap.  '20. 


INTRODUCTION 

Any  important  policy  of  economic  advance  meets  with  three 
types  of  attitudes  among  business  men:  First,  there  is  the' 
type  which  tries  out  the  new  policy  and  succeeds.  Second, 
there  is  the  type  which  tries  it  out  and  fails.  Third,  there  is 
the  type  which  refuses  to  try  it  out  at  all. 

The  first  group  are  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word  pioneers 
in  the  business  world.  Their  experimenting  and  testing  of  new 
economic  principles  and  methods  is  the  great  influence  in  keeping 
the  economic  system  from  becoming  stagnant.  They  deserve 
credit  for  taking  the  risks  that  go  with  new  and  untried  pro- 
grams, and  for  discovering  the  practical  technique  by  which 
new  ideas  and  principles  can  be  made  workable  for  business. 
This  group  have  amply  demonstrated  the  practicability  and  the 
soundness  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  modern  psychology 
as  applied  to  business  problems. 

The  second  group  accompany  any  forward  movement.  By 
failing  to  grasp  the  spirit  of  the  movement,  or  by  failing  to 
apply  the  principles  by  the  proper  technology,  they  fail  naturally 
to  secure  the  expected  results.  The  feature  of  their  failure 
which  is  most  regrettable  is  that  the  conclusion  drawn  by  them- 
selves and  by  many  onlookers  is  that  the  cause  of  failure  was 
in  the  system.  In  reality,  the  failure  was  in  themselves, — in 
their  not  understanding  the  principles  and  technique  requisite 
for  success.  In  spite  of  this  real  cause  of  failure,  the  seeming 
cause  all  too  often  is  the  one  which  attracts  attention.  Those 
who  have  tried  to  apply  psychology  to  business  and  have  failed 
take  it  for  granted  that  their  failure  ought  to  teach  everyone 
the  lesson  that  psychology  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare.  Such  a 
conclusion  is  exploded  by  those  who  take  the  sober  second 
thought  to  observe  those  who  have  tried  and  succeeded.  The 
practical  and  the  truthful  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  such 
failures  is  that  no  one  should  attempt  lightly  to  establish  his 
industrial  relations  upon  a  sound  psychological  basis,  with  the 
hope  that  no  matter  how  much  fumbling  and  botching  may  be 
gone  through  with,  nevertheless  some  legerdemain  will  carry 


2  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

him  through  to  success.  Practical  psychology  is  practical  only 
when  and  where  business  men  take  the  pains  to  understand  its 
principles,  to  apply  it  honestly  and  sincerely,  and  to  work  out 
the  technique  of  its  application  intelligently  and  carefully. 

The  third  group  abound  with  skepticism  toward  the  new 
project,  mainly  because  it  is  new.  Their  skepticism  is  intensified 
by  the  business  men  here  and  there  who  try  out  the  new  move- 
ment and  fail.  The  most  liberal-minded  of  this  group  are 
honestly  open  to  conviction,  and  genuinely  want  to  be  convinced. 
But  they  have  seen  fads  come  and  go,  and  take  a  cautious 
attitude  toward  all  new  methods  of  management.  Their  innate 
conservatism  can  gradually  be  overcome  by  the  examples  of 
successful  trial  of  the  new  movement  as  they  appear  from  time 
to  time.  The  least  liberal-minded  of  this  group  are  the  adaman- 
tine reactionaries  who  openly  scoff  at  the  foolhardiness  of  any 
departure  from  the  worn  and  beaten  paths  of  business  as 
usual. 

In  viewing  the  various  attitudes  held  by  business  men  toward 
the  value  of  psychology  for  business,  it  is  illuminating,  there- 
fore, to  bear  in  mind  these  three  distinct  types  of  business  exec- 
utives. 

Psychology  becomes  "practical"  for  business  executives  in 
so  far  as  its  principles  square  with  inevitable  economic  laws 
and  its  technique  of  application  proves  definitely  workable. 
Practicability  consists  of  principles  and  a  technology  for  applying 
principles.  The  selections  of  this  volume  have  been  made  with 
the  purpose  of  fulfilling  both  of  these  demands.  There  is  a 
vast  field  of  literature  in  theoretical  psychology,  and  the  bulk  of 
industrial  psychology  is  derived  from  the  theoretical  literature. 
However,  it  would  be  out  of  place  to  fill  this  volume  with  the 
treatises  on  abstract  psychological  speculation,  or  with  the 
academic  investigations  in  pure  science  along  psychological  lines. 
The  purpose  has  been  to  glean  from  one  source  and  another 
enough  of  the  theory  to  give  some  conception  of  fundamental, 
scientific  principles.  On  the  other  hand,  the  purpose  has  been 
to  balance  this  material  with  selections  that  treat  of  methods, 
practices,  and  technique.  The  two  combined  are  offered  as  a 
practical  approach  to  the  study  of  the  possibilities  of  psychology 
in  industry  by  managers  and  executives.  The  ^successes  of 
pioneer  business  men  in  applying  psychology  to  industry  have 
been  numerous  enough  and  thorough  enough  so  that  the  rank 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  3 

and  file  of  business  executives  can  afford  to  take  seriously  the 
demonstrated  contribution  which  psychology  is  able  to  make  to 
the  tasks  of  modern  management.  \ 

LIONEL  D.  EDIE. 


I.  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  BASIS  OF 
INDUSTRIAL  RELATIONS 

THE    POSSIBILITIES    CONTAINED     IN    THE 
PSYCHOLOGICAL  APPROACH  * 

During  the  nineteenth  century  many  advances  were  made  in 
our  conception  of  the  material  world  and  in  our  practice  of 
dealing  with  its  various  factors.  The  twentieth  century  is 
characterized  by  an  appreciation  of  the  personnel  problem,  by 
the  possession  of  the  behavioristic  point  of  view  in  psychology, 
and  by  the  presence  of  numerous  trained  experts  devoting  their 
energy  to  the  development  of  the  concepts  and  practice  of 
personnel.  .  . 

The  importance  of  these  changes  is  very  great,  both  for  the 
development  of  the  science  of  psychology  and  for  the  welfare 
of  the  human  race.  It  has  been  estimated  that  during  the 
nineteenth  century  the  power  of  the  human  race  to  produce 
food,  clothing  and  shelter  was  doubled  by  the  application  of 
increased  knowledge  of  the  material  elements  of  the  universe. 
All  the  significant  advances  in  knowledge  of  the  material  world 
were  brought  about  by  possibly  a  few  thousand  progressive  minds 
devoted  to  that  study. 

It  is  quite  probable  that  the  productive  power  of  the  human 
race  is  being  doubled  again  during  the  present  century.  The 
benefits  of  this  advance  will  be  divided  between  better  adjust- 
ments of  the  material  world  to  the  needs  of  man,  and  the  better 
adjustments  of  man  to  man.  Such  an  increase  in  the  efficiency 
of  the  race  will  probably  be  due  to  the  advance  in  our  knowledge 
of  personnel  rather  than  to  further  increase  in  our  knowledge 
of  the  material  universe.  If  a  few  thousand  men  in  their  study 
of  the  material  world  served  the  science  and  the  race  so  effec- 
tively, those  of  us  who  are  engaged  in  the  study  of  personnel 

1  Walter  Dill  Scott,  President  of  the  Scott  Company,  President  of 
the  American  Psychological  Association.  Annual  address.  Psychological 
Review.  Vol.  27.  1920.  p.  82-04. 


6  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

may   get   a   glimpse   of   the    responsibility  and   the   opportunity 
that  is  ours. 


THE  DRIVING  POWER  OF  HUMAN  INSTINCTS1 

We  may  say,  then,  that  directly  or  indirectly  the  instincts  ' 
are  the  prime  movers  of  all  human  activity;  by  the  conative  or 
impulsive  force  of  some  instinct  (or  of  some  habit  derived  from 
an  instinct),  every  train  of  thought,  however  cold  and  passion- 
less it  may  seem,  is  borne  along  toward  its  end,  and  every 
bodily  activity  is  initiated  and  sustained.  The  instinctive 
impulses  determine  the  ends  of  all  activities  and  supply  the 
driving  power  by  which  all  mental  activities  are  sustained;  and. 
all  the  complex  intellectual  apparatus  of  the  most  highly 
developed  mind  is  but  a  means  toward  these  ends,  is  but  the 
instrument  by  which  these  impulses  seek  their  satisfactions, 
while  pleasure  and  pain  do  but  serve  to  guide  them  in  their 
choice  of  the  means. 

Take  away  these  instinctive  dispositions  with  their  powerful  J 
impulses,  and  the  organism  would  become  incapable  of  activity 
of  any  kind;  it  would  lie  inert  and  motionless  like  a  wonderful 
clockwork  whose  main-spring  had  been  removed  or  a  steam- 
engine  whose  fires  had  been  drawn.  These  impulses  are  the 
mental  forces  that  maintain  and  shape  all  the  life  of  individuals 
and  societies,  and  in  them  we  are  confronted  with  the  central 
mystery  of  life  and  mind  and  will. 


SOCIETY  FOUNDED  ON  INSTINCTS2 

The  integrating  factors  in  all  animal  societies  are  instincts 
rather  than  intelligence.  That  this  is  true  of  ants,  bees,  and 
wasps,  of  fishes,  birds,  wolves,  and  sheep  no  one  will  question. 
That  it  is  equally  true  of  human  society  is  plainly  apparent  to 
any  one  who  studies  primitive  man  or  who  analyzes  the  behavior 
of  even  the  highest  races.  Even  in  man,  instinct  is  more  universal 

1  William    McDougall.       Social    Psychology.       i3th    ed.      p.    45-6.     John 
W.  Luce  &  Co.  Boston.   1918. 

2  Edwin    Grant    Conklin.      The    direction    of    Human    Evolution;    Evo- 
lution and  Democracy,    p.  90-4.    Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    New  York   1921. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  7 

and  more  powerful  than  reason ;  indeed,  reason  plays  a  relatively 
small  part  in  the  lives  and  activities  of  most  men.  The  contrary 
opinion  is  due  to  our  inveterate  habit  of  acting  instinctively  and 
then  attempting  to  explain  to  ourselves  or  to  others  the  reason 
for  the  act.  Indeed,  mankind,  as  a  whole,  has  but  recently 
begun  to  emerge  from  a  life  of  instinct  to  one  of  intelligence 
and  reason.  Some  races  and  some  individuals  havfc  gone  farther 
in  this  direction  than  others,  but  with  the  great  mass  of  mankind 
instinct  is  still  the  guide  of  life. 

Descartes  begins  his  famous  Discourse  on  Method  with 
these  words :  "Good  sense  or  reason  is,  of  all  things  among  men, 
the  most  equally  distributed."  No  modern  philosopher  or 
scientist  would  agree  to  this ;  on  the  contrary,  he  would  say : 
"Instinct  is,  of  all  psychical  things  among  men,  the  most  equally 
distributed."  Instinct  and  not  reason  is  the  source  and  ultimate 
cause  of  human  society  as  well  as  of  most  human  behavior. 

The  principal  instincts  of  all  animals  are  those  which  concern 
safety,  food,  and  reproduction ;  the  most  important  social  instincts 
have  to  do  with  the  defense,  welfare,  and  perpetuity  of  the 
group.  In  addition  to  these  general  instincts  the  following 
more  special  ones  have  served  to  bind  the  higher  mammals 
together  in  societies: 

1.  The   instinct  of   service,   especially   between   members  of 
the  same  family  or  social  group. 

2.  The  fear  of  isolation,  or  disapproval,  and  the  desire  for 
fellowship,  or  sympathy. 

3.  The  tendency  to  follow  trusted  leaders,  but  not  to  depart 
too  far  from  precedents. 

These  are  the  integrating,  coordinating,  harmonizing  bonds 
which  unite  men  in  societies.  They  are  deep-seated  instincts 
not  easily  overcome.  The  presence  and  power  of  these  instincts 
in  practically  all  peoples  of  the  earth  has  been  demonstrated 
in  a  most  remarkable  manner  during  the  Great  War.  It  is 
reassuring  to  find  that  the  integrative  instincts  on  which  society 
is  founded  have  not  disappeared,  and  while  these  foundations 
remain  let  no  one  despair  of  the  future  of  society. 

On  the  other  hand,  among  the  higher  mammals  and  especially 
among  men  there  are  disintegrative  instincts  or  desires  which 
tend  to  disrupt  societies  or  at  least  to  create  disharmony.  Among 
these  are: 


8  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

1.  The  desire  for  individual  freedom,  even  when  it  conflicts 
with  the  welfare  of  society. 

2.  The    tendency    to    limit    social    cooperation  to  groups  or 
classes    based    upon    family,    racial,    national,    temperamental, 
environmental,  industrial,  intellectual,  or  religious  homogeneity. 

Such  disruptive  instincts  are  not  unknown  in  animal  societies. 
Ant-colonies  often  wage  relentless  war  upon  other  colonies, 
even  though  they  be  of  the  same  species.  Under  certain  circum- 
stances bees  become  ruthless  robbers  and  marauders,  waging 
a  war  of  extermination  upon  weaker  or  defenseless  colonies, 
and  even  upon  other  species  of  animals ;  indeed  the  robber 
instinct  of  bees  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  frenzy,  or  madness,  which 
is  possibly  the  result  of  fear  and  the  defensive  instinct.  In  all 
animals  the  class  instinct  serves  to  bind  together  more  firmly  the 
members  of  the  same  class  or  colony,  while  at 'the  same  time  it 
widens  the  gaps  between  different  classes  and  colonies.  Indeed, 
it  may  be  said  that  in  animal  societies  there  are  practically  no 
bonds  between  different  groups  or  colonies.  These  class  instincts 
are  very  evident  among  men.  Fortunately  they  are  opposed  by 
the  harmonizing  and  unifying  instincts,  and  most  of  all  intelli- 
gence and  reason. 

The  incompleteness  of  integration,  cooperation,  and  harmony 
in  human  society  is  due  to  the  fact  that  imperfect  intelligence 
and  freedom  have  come  in  to  interfere  with  instinct.  Disharmony 
in  ourselves  and  in  society  is  the  price  we  pay  for  personal 
intelligence  and  freedom.  The  more  intelligence  one  has  the 
greater  is  his  freedom  from  purely  instinctive  responses,  but 
man  is  never  wholly  free  from  the  influences  of  instinct.  The 
personal  freedom  which  endangers  human  cooperation  opens 
at  the  same  time  a  path  of  progress  along  rational  lines.  In  our 
individual  behavior  and  in  our  social  activities  we  now  seek  the 
ideal  harmony  of  the  hive,  but  on  the  higher  plane  of  intelligence, 
freedom,  and  ethics. 

The  past  evolution  of  man  has  occurred  almost  entirely 
without  conscious  human  guidance;  but  with  the  appearance  of 
intellect  and  the  capacity  of  profiting  by  experience  a  new  and 
great  opportunity  and  responsibility  has  been  given  man  of 
directing  rationally  and  ethically  his  future  evolution.  More 
than  anything  else,  that  which  distinguishes  human  society  from 
that  of  other  animals  is  just  this  ability — incomplete  though  it 
is — to  control  instincts  and  emotions  by  intelligence  and  reason. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  9 

Those  who  maintain  that  racial,  national,  and  class  antagonisms 
are  inevitable  because  they  are  instinctive,  and  that  wars  can 
never  cease  because  man  is  by  nature  a  fighting  animal,  really 
deny  that  mankind  can  ever  learn  by  experience;  they  look 
backward  to  the  instinctive  origins  of  society  and  not  forward 
to  its  rational  organization.  We  shall  never  cease  to  have 
instincts,  but,  unless  they  are  balanced  and  controlled  by  reason, 
human  society  will  revert  to  the  level  of  the  pack  or  herd  or  hive. 
The  foundations  of  human  society  are  laid  in  gregarious 
instincts,  but  upon  these  foundations  human  intelligence  has 
erected  that  enormous  structure  which  we  call  civilization. 


GUIDANCE  OF  THE  PRIMARY  HUMAN  FORCES1 

I  have  been  at  some  pains  to  make  it  clear  that  the  instinctive 
tendencies  of  man  must  often  be  supplemented,  redirected  and 
even  reversed,  and  that,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  words, 
original  nature  is  imperfect  and  untrustworthy.  But  in  a 
certain  important  sense  nature  is  right. 

There  is  a  warfare  of  man's  ideals  with  his  original  tendencies, 
but  his  ideals  themselves  came  at  some  time  from  original 
yearnings  in  some  man.  Learning  has  to  remake  unlearned 
tendencies  for  the  better,  but  the  capacity  to  learn,  too,  is  a 
part  of  his  nature.  Intelligence  and  reason  are  fit  rulers  of 
man's  instincts  just  because  they  are  of  the  same  flesh  and 
blood.  They  are  not  foreign  conquerors,  imposing  a  law  that 
is  better  because  it  conies  down  from  above.  They  are  sons 
of  the  soil,  as  indigenous  as  hunger  and  thirst,  chosen  to  rule 
because  their  laws  mean  the  best  harmony  of  all  the  instincts. 
The  native  impulses  and  cravings  of  man  have  to  be  tamed  and 
enlightened  by  the  customs,  arts  and  sciences  of  civilized  life, 
but  every  item  of  these  arts  and  sciences  was  first  created  by 
forces  within  man's  own  nature.  Instincts  may  be  trusted  to 
form  desirable  habits  only  under  a  strong  social  pressure  whereby 
the  wants  of  one  are  accommodated  to  the  wants  of  all,  but  the 
most  elaborate  and  artificial  moral  training  which  a  social  group 
prescribes  is  still  ultimately  an  expression  of  man's  nature.  The 

1  E.  L.  Thorndike.  The  Original  Nature  of  Man.  In  Educational 
Psychology.  Vol.  I.  p.  310-12.  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University. 
1913-1914. 


io  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

springs  of  ideals  and  of  work  in  their  service  are  surely  -not  in 
the  environment  of  rocks,  rivers,  animals  and  plants.  Man's 
nature  is  right  in  at  least  the  sense  that  it,  not  the  world 
outside  of  it,  is  the  source  of  whatever  goods  man  has  learned 
to  esteem. 

The  impersonal  wants,  the  cravings  for  truth,  beauty  and 
justice,  the  zeal  for  competence  in  workmanship,  and  the  spirit 
of  good-will  toward  men  which  are  the  highest  objects  of  life 
for  man  seem  far  removed  from  his  original  proclivities.  They 
are  remote  in  the  sense  that  the  forces  in  their  favor  have  to 
work  diligently  and  ingeniously  in  order  to  make  them  even 
partial  aims  for  even  a  minority  of  men.  But,  in  a  deeper 
sense,  they  reside  within  man  himself ;  and,  apart  from  super- 
natural aids,  the  forces  in  their  favor  are  simply  all  the  good 
in  all  men. 

The  original  nature  of  man,  as  we  have  seen,  has  its  source 
far  back  of  reason  and  morality  in  the  interplay  of  brute  forces ; 
it  grows  up  as  an  agency  to  keep  men,  and  especially  certain 
neurones  within  men's  bodies,  alive;  it  is  physiologically  deter- 
mined by  the  character  of  the  synaptic  bonds  and  degrees  of 
readiness  to  act  of  these  neurones;  parts  of  it  are  again  and 
again  in  rebellion  against  the  higher  life  that  the  acquired 
wisdom  of  man  prescribes.  But  it  has  evolved  reason  and 
morality  from  brute  force;  amongst  the  neurones  whose  life  it 
serves  are  neurones  whose  life  means,  if  a  certain  social  environ- 
ment is  provided,  loving  children,  being  just  to  all  men,  seeking 
the  truth,  and  every  other  activity  that  man  honors,  the  wisdom 
that  criticizes  it  is  its  own  product;  the  higher  life  is  the  choice 
of  its  better  elements :  for  whatever  aberrations  and  degradations 
it  imposes  on  man,  its  own  virtues  are  the  preventive  and  cure: 
and  to  it  will  be  due  whatever  happiness,  power  and  dignity 
man  attains. 

"Human  nature,  then,  has  for  its  core  the  substance  of  nature 
at  large,  and  is  one  of  its  more  complex  formations.  Its 
determination  is  progressive.  It  varies  indefinitely  in  its  historic 
manifestations  and  fades  into  what,  as  a  matter  of  natural  history, 
might  no  longer  be  termed  human.  At  each  moment  it  has  its 
fixed  and  determined  entelechy,  the  ideal  of  that  being's  life, 
based  on  his  instincts,  summed  up  in  his  character,  brought  to 
a  focus  in  his  reflection,  and  shared  by  all  who  have  attained 
or  may  inherit  his  organization.  His  perceptive  and  reasoning 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  11 

faculties  are  parts  of  human  nature,  as  embodied  in  him;  all 
objects  of  belief  or  desire,  with  all  standards  of  justice  and 
duty  which  he  can  possibly  acknowledge  are  transcripts  of  it, 
conditioned  by  it,  and  justifiable  only  as  expressions  of  its 
inherent  tendencies." — Santayana,  Life  of  Reason.  These  in- 
herent tendencies,  too,  bear  the  impetus  and  means  to  their  own 
improvement.  The  apostles  and  soldiers  of  the  ideal  in  whom 
service  for  truth  and  justice  has  become  the  law  of  life  need 
not  despair  of  human  nature,  nor  pray  for  a  miracle  to  purge 
man  of  his  baser  elements.  They  are  the  sufficient  miracle :  their 
lives  are  the  proof  that  human  nature  itself  can  change  itself 
for  the  better — that  the  human  species  can  teach  itself  to  think 
for  truth  alone  and  to  act  for  the  good  of  all  men. 


SCOPE  OF  PSYCHOLOGY  IN  INDUSTRY  * 

All  great  movements  of  history  and  pre-history  have  been 
the  products  of  unrest  and  man's  struggle  to  make  or  find  an        S 
environment  that  better  suits  his  nature  and  his  needs.     It  took  * 
the  world  a  long  time  to  learn  that  religion  was  made  for  man, 
and  not  man  for  religion.    More  recently  we  have  been  learning 
that  the  school  was  made  for  the  child,  and  not  the  child  for 
the  school.    Today  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the  same  Copernican 
revolution  in  industry  and  are  beginning  to  realize  that  it  was 
made  for  the  better  development  of  man,  and  not  conversely. 
[Jt,  too,  can  never  be  stable  until  it  fits  human  nature  and  needs.J 

But  let  me  say  at  the  outset  that  the  nascent  but  inevitable 
advent  of  democracy  into  industry  is  not  to  be  attained  by  any 
bolshevik  program  of  confiscation  or  nationalization  of  capital; 
nor  by  any  form  of  government  socialism,  or  by  the  French  or 
any  form  of  syndicalism;  nor  by  any  modernization  of  the 
mediaeval  guilds;  nor  by  any  development  yet  in  sight  of  the 
efficiency  system,  which  has  so  far  contributed  almost  as  much 
to  the  discontent  of  labor  as  it  has  to  the  effectiveness  of  the 
organization;  nor  even  by  the  full  program  of  the  Whitley 
reports.  \  Permanent  and  settled  industrial  peace  and  good-will 
can  only  be  found  in  a  full  and  unreserved  cooperation  between 

1 G.  Stanley  Hall.  Address  before  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute, 
June  10,  1920.  Reprinted  from  Pedagogical  Seminary.  Vol.  27.  1920. 
p.  281-91,  293. 


12  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

capital  and  labor,  with  some  complete  scheme  of  joint  control 
and  profit-sharing,  involving  more  knowledge  by  the  laborer 
of  the  business  as  a  whole  and  more  loyalty  to  it.  This  alone 
can  bring  harmony,  avoid  the  excessive  waste  of  friction,  ill-will, 
soldiering  on  the  job,  labor  turn-overs,  strikes — of  which  an 
official  report  a  few  months  ago  told  us  there  were  three  hundred 
sixty-five,  or  one  for  every  day  of  the  year,  on  at  that  time  in 
this  country — and  all  the  other  wastage  of  energy  from  unem- 
ployment to  sabotage.  All  jhese  disorders  which  are  so  ominous 
for  the  business  and  economic  future  of  this  country  and  its 
supremacy  in  the  markets  of  the  world  are,  in  a  sense,  of  psychic 
origin,  and  the  cure  must  be  sought  by  a  better  knowledge  and  a 
wiser  regimentation  of  the  mind  of  labor. A  \N> 

Can  we  ever  hope  to  accomplish  the  colossal  engineering  with 
the  forces  of  Mansoul  which  will  bring  accord  where  there  is 
now  discord  utterly  without  precedent?  I  think  we  see  the 
direction  and  some  of  the  first  steps  toward  this  goal. 

But  before  designating  these,  let  me  first  remind  you  that 
psychology  has,  almost  within  a  decade,  made  a  great  discovery 
which  is  very  much  in  point  here,  viz.,  that  of  the  unconscious 
state  of  man's  nature.  The  field  of  consciousness,  which  used 
to  be  our  muse,  is  far  too  narrow,  so  that  man  very  rarely 
knows  what  he  really  wants  or  what  are  the  causes  of  his 
troubles.  Consciousness  is  like  the  one-ninth  of  the  iceberg 
that  is  above  the  water,  once  thought  to  be  guided  by  the  winds 
while  in  fact  the  impelling  force  is  the  currents  of  the  denser 
medium  in  which  the  other  eight-ninths  are  submerged.  How 
often  we  think  we  are  doing  this  or  that  by  this  or  that  means, 
when  we  realize  later  in  fact,  as  history  does  for  mankind,  that 
very  different  goals  were  really  sought.  Thus  the  mind  as 
we  knew  it  before  is  like  a  port  of  entry  and  departure  for  a 
vast  hinterland,  or  like  a  clearing-house.  Thus  with  all  social 
and  political  movements,  as  well  as  with  industry,  we  have  to 
look  under  the  threshold  of  the  mind  for  the  real  causes.  In 
the  era  of  the  unconscious  we  are  now  doing  that,  as  never 
before,  in  every  field  of  thought.  It  is  a  little  as  if  the  individual 
and  the  race  had  found  a  new  and  larger  soul,  so  that  the  past, 
present  and  future  require  reinterpretation. 

In  view  of  this  let  us  enumerate  a  few  of  the  deeper  primal 
needs  of  man  on  which  his  tranquillity  and  effectiveness  depend, 
quite  as  often  and  perhaps  more  unconsciously  than  consciously. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  13 

and  failure  to  satisfy  which  makes  for  unrest  and  sometimes 
revolution. 

i.  The  first  of  these  is  the  homely  need  of  sufficient  and 
fit  food  and  drink.  Nutrition  is  the  basis  of  life.  The  first  use 
of  every  sense,  all  of  which  are  located  near  the  entrance  of  the 
alimentary  canal,  was  as  a  food-finder  or  tester.  A  large  part 
of  the  intelligence  of  animals  which  we  marvel  at  as  instinct  is 
directly  developed  by  and  from  the  food  quest.  The  voluminous 
studies  of  the  Pavlov  school  show  us  that  anything  that  comes 
to  be  associated  with  food  for  the  animal  or  for  the  human 
infant  becomes  an  organ  of  apperception.  All  migrations  of 
animals  and  also  of  men  have  always  been  from  areas  of 
scarcity  to  those  of  more  adequate  food  supply.  Many  studies 
show,  too,  the  effects  of  sub-  or  mal-nutrition  in  children.  The 
under-nourished  are  far  more  fatigable;  they  have  less  power 
to  resist  infectious  diseases  and  to  recover  from  wounds, 
injuries  or  illness;  they  are  more  likely  to  be  arrested  before 
the  later,  higher  stages  of  physical  and  mental  maturity  are 
attained;  and  they  are  far  more  nervous  and  irritable.  There 
is  a  marked  correlation  in  children  between  sub-nutrition  and 
runaways,  truancy  and  theft,  which  often  begins  with  the  theft 
of  edibles.  Very  slight  nutritive  defects  are  often  summated 
for  months  and  years,  as,  e.g.,  a  slight  insufficiency  of  salt,  long 
continued,  causes  flocks  of  animals  and  tribes  of  men  to  trek 
till  this  nutritive  deficit  is  compensated  for.  Who  can  doubt  that 
the  general  recent  food  shortage,  especially  in  Central  Europe, 
has  much  to  do  with  the  general  unrest  there,  or  that  taking 
away  the  tipple  to  which  the  workman  was  long  used  is  another 
contributing,  if  unconscious,  factor  in  every  kind  of  discontent, 
for  the  new  nutritive  balance  that  prohibition  requires  always 
causes  men  to  make  more  demands  upon  the  home  table  or 
dinner  pail  and  thus  brings  added  responsibilities  upon  the 
housewife.  The  working  man  is,  in  some  respects,  peculiarly 
dependent  upon  his  dietary,  and  the  lank  and  hungry  are  pre- 
disposed to  listen  to  radicals. 

The  many  researches  in  this  field  show  that  it  is  the  early 
stages  of  a  long  fast  that  cause  most  disquiet,  and  also  that  a 
stated  reduction  of  food  to  a  half  or  quarter  of  the  normal, 
while  it  sustains  life  indefinitely,  is  vastly  more  disquieting  and 
painful  than  complete  abstinence.  When  from  food  insufficiency 
the  body  begins  to  draw  upon  its  own  reserves  and  consume 


14  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

itself,  taxing  as  it  does  the  various  organs  and  functions  in 
a  rather  definite  scale,  some  of  them  losing  a  tenfold  larger 
percentage  than  others,  not  only  efficiency  but  character  undergo 
certain  degenerative  changes,  and  there  is  a  diffused  anxiety 
which  suggestion  may  cause  to  focus  on  almost  any  object  in  the 
environment.  Thus  the  underfed  man  can  not  only  do  less  work 
and  does  it  with  more  friction,  like  an  engine  only  partially 
fueled  and  oiled,  but  he  becomes  more  or  less  combustible  at  the 
touch  of  any  kind  of  agitator.  The  dread  of  insufficient  food 
in  the  near  future  is  another  grain  of  sand  in  the  machine.  Thus, 
in  time,  we  are  realizing  as  never  before  what  a  dangerous 
factor  in  politics,  society,  or  industry,  protracted  and  prolonged 
sub-  or  mal-nutrition  may  come  to  be.  Napoleon  said  the 
greatest  reinforcer  of  courage  in  the  soldier  was  to  be  able  to 
"fight  on  a  full  belly,"  and  the  morale  of  labor  of  every  kind 
rests  no  less  squarely  upon  the  basis  of  metabolism.  So  our 
great  industrial  army,  which  works  on  its  belly,  needs  a  new 
Hooverism,  which  science  and  many  social  agencies  are  now,  at 
least  in  part,  prepared  to  supply. 

If  the  daily  ration  of  food  or  nutritive  values  throughout 
this  country  were  cut  to  one-half  o'r  one-third,  as  for  the 
bourgeoisie  in  bolshevik  Russia,  or  even  to  one-fourth  of  the 
normal  need,  we  should  live  indefinitely  and  even  "carry  on" 
after  a  fashion;  but  efficiency  would  gradually  sink  in  nearly 
the  same  proportion;  pur  national  disposition,  buoyant  and 
optimistic,  would  sag ;  accidents  would  multiply ;  our  mores  and 
morale  would  decline ;  and  the  growing  dis-ease  would  start  or 
augment  every  tendency  in  the  direction  of  revolution  and  even 
anarchy.  Miss  Gamble  tells  young  women  the  best  way  to 
manage  a  husband  is  to  keep  him  well-fed  and  never  allow  him 
to  get  thirsty.  No  matter  what  policies  or  treaties  nations 
adopt,  the  world  can  never  hope  for  assured  and  lasting  peace 
as  long  as  its  food  supply  is  insufficient  and  insecure. 

2.  The  second  basal  need  of  man  is  wife  and  children. 
This  is  the  racial  as  hunger  is  the  individual  factor  in  the  mental 
hygiene  of  industry.  It  roots  in  and  irradiates  from  the  sex 
urge,  from  which  evolve  all  the  secondary  sex  qualities  of  mind 
and  body  which  make  the  family  and  the  home,  and  which  is 
sublimated  in  the  higher  forms  of  culture,  social  life  and  religion. 
Statistics  show  that  married  men  are  more  conservative,  less 
prone  to  rove,  have  more  incentive  to  earn,  save  and  look  ahead. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  15 

But  they  need  a  larger  wage,  and  if  their  loved  ones  suffer 
privations,  their  exasperation  at  hard  conditions  is  more  intense 
and  perhaps  desperate.  These  normal  domestic  and  family 
instincts,  if  thwarted  and  repressed,  sooner  or  later  find  vent 
in  subtle  mental  distempers  which  psychiatry  is  just  beginning 
to  understand,  or  else  in  social  or  industrial  revolt,  the  real 
cause  of  which  is  also  deeper  and  other  than  we  have  hitherto 
realized.  Studies  of  the  I.  W.  W.  show  how  many  of  its 
members  have  known  or  have  thrown  off  family  ties,  and  one 
writer  estimates  that  in  the  last  ten  years  there  have  been  fifty 
thousand  clinical  cases  which  show  lives  wrecked  or  gravely 
jeopardized  by  the  perversions  of  the  vita  sexualis  in  the  new 
and  larger  light  in  which  this  is  now  interpreted.  The  workman 
loves  his  wife,  children  and  home  as  much  as,  and  some  would 
have  us  believe  more  than,  the  millionaire.  He  feels  every 
pang  and  slight  as  acutely,  he  is  no  less  solicitous  for  their 
present  well-being  and  future  career,  and  is  probably  more 
ready  to  make  sacrifices  for  them.  The  wifeless,  childless, 
homeless  man  is  not  only  a  greater  industrial  risk  but  is  prone 
to  turn  to  vicious  vicariates  for  these  domestic  instincts,  for 
without  these  hostages  to  fortune  he  is  prone  to  focus  on  self 
the  affections  meant  for  posterity  and  the  perpetuity  and  im- 
provement of  the  race.  It  is  not  so  much  the  pithy  hints  on  sex 
hygiene,  which  did  so  much  good  in  the  army,  that  the  workman 
needs,  although  this  does  good;  he  needs  more  a  few  basal 
principles  of  eugenics,  which  Galton  thought  the  religion  of  the 
future,  but  most  of  all  he  needs  incentive  and  opportunity  to 
take  a  mate  and  start  a  family  near  the  dawn  of  the  now 
rather  well-defined  age  biologically  best  for  nubity  and  procrea- 
tion and  not  after  its  heyday  has  begun  to  fade  and  he  has 
learned  to  satisfy  these  racial  needs  by  inferior  surrogates. 
Perhaps  in  no  domain  of  our  modern  life  is  there  so  much  new 
knowledge  unapplied  today,  but  from  which  we  may  hope  for  so 
much  in  the  near  future. 

3.  A  third  basal  instinct  never  so  strong  as  since 
evolution  became  the  watchword  of  culture  and  in  a  true 
democracy  in  which  the  way  to  the  highest  is  open  to  the 
lowest,  is  the  impulse  to  get  ahead,  to  progress,  to  improve,  to 
make  the  most  and  the  best  out  of  this  present  life.  The  motto 
of  even  the  ever  fewer  who  have  some  vestige  of  belief  in  a 
future  life  of  compensations  "One  life  at  a  time,  and  this  one 


i6  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

now."  This  urge  is  seen  in  the  millions  of  young  and  middle- 
aged  men  taking  extension,  continuation,  and  correspondence 
courses,  either  to  make  up  for  neglected  opportunities  in  the 
past  or  to  keep  abreast  with  the  latest  advances  of  knowledge 
and  skill.  Nowhere  does  the  fate  of  that  vast  multitude  of 
unskilled  toilers  in  the  world,  who,  as  statistics  show,  at  twenty 
have  reached  their  maximum  of  industrial  efficiency  and  see 
nothing  ahead  but  decades  of  the  same  drudgery,  seem  so 
intolerable.  Nowhere  are  parents  so  anxious  that  their  children 
should  rise  above  their  own  estate,  and  nowhere  does  the  merely 
living  wage  seem  so  exasperating.  This  country  was  peopled 
from  the  first  to  now  by  those  in  the  world  who  were  restless 
at  home  and  sought  and  expected  more  freedom  or  possessions 
J  or  both,  and  this  American-itis,  as  we  call  its  extreme  form, 
colors  our  every  industrial  and  social  problem.  In  so  far  as 
we  have  escaped  the  old  world  stratification  of  ranks  and  classes 
we  have  bought  this  immunity  at  the  high  cost  of  having  a 
horror  of  inferiority  and  stationariness  unprecedented  in  history, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  all  dominance  of  mediocrity.  The  reor- 
ganization of  labor  must  reckon  with  this  tendency  and  realize 
that  the  standard  of  living  of  the  workman  must  be  indefinitely 
improved  so  that  he  may  be  able  to  lay  by  for  the  future  rather 
than  be  dependent  upon  old-age  pensions  and  accident-  and  health- 
insurance,  which  are  too  paternal  for  the  American  spirit.  This 
spirit,  I  fear  we  must  realize,  nothing  will  ultimately  satisfy 
short  of  profit-sharing,  although  we  admit  that  this  involves 
practically  joint  ownership  with  capital.  To  this,  I  fear,  too,  we 
can  see  no  alternative  except  the  desperately  unpractical  one  of 
either  sovietism  or  the  free  importation  of  Mongol  or  other  cheap 
labor,  unless,  indeed,  some  of  our  interests  have  to  go  where 
labor  is  instead  of  bringing  it  to  us.  The  instinct  of  ownership, 
which  has  made  some  ten  thousand  millionaires  in  this  country, 
is  strong  in  every  American,  who,  perhaps  on  the  whole,  prefers 
wealth  to  anything  else  in  the  world.  To  hold  property,  even  a 
little,  not  only  makes  for  conservatism  but  extends  the  limits  of 
personality,  making  the  holder  alive  to  everything  in  the  environ- 
ment which  affects  his  interests.  It  is  thus  one  of  the  most 
educative  and  man-making  of  all  the  agencies  of  the  modern 
world,  and  if  it  represents  real  service  in  the  community,  it  is, 
on  the  whole,  the  very  best  measure  of  worthful  citizenship. 
4.  Another  very  basal  impulse,  one  of  the  chief  traits  of 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  17 

man,  is  the  noetic  instinct  or  curiosity,  the  lust  to  know  and 
understand  the  environment,  which  began  with  the  very  develop- 
ment of  the  brain  and  has  culminated  in  modern  science.  This 
dynamic  urge  is  strong,  in  some  sense  stronger,  among  the 
ignorant  and  technically  uneducated  who  realize  their  limitations. 
Even  the  illiterate  workman  has  his  intellect  and  will  use  it 
wisely  or  otherwise.  He  welcomes  everything  and  everyone 
who  makes  a  pungent  appeal,  as  radicals  and  agitators  with 
their  cheap  and  easy  and  often  perverse  solutions  of  all  great 
problems  surely  know  how  to  do.  His  mentation  may  be  ever  so 
rudimentary  and  collective,  as  in  the  mass  and  the  mob,  rather 
than  the  individual,  but  mental  pabulum  of  some  kind  he  must 
have,  and  this  need  is  as  great  as  that  of  his  body  for  food. 
Under  the  old  guild  system  he  found  scope  for  his  instincts  in 
the  craft  itself,  but  this  the  ever  increasing  specialization  of  the 
modern  mass  production  denies  him  so  that  he  seeks  to  escape 
mental  suffocation  by  listening  to  the  propagandists  of  revolution. 

Kirschensteiner  has  evolved  culture  courses  for  some  forty 
trades  and  occupations,  so  that  a  boot-black,  e.g.,  knows  some- 
thing of  leather,  the  history  of  footwear,  etc.,  while  the  chimney- 
sweep knows  the  rudiments  of  combustion,  ventilation,  of  the 
chemistry  of  soot,  and  thus  not  only  can  he  use  his  brains  as 
well  as  his  hands  but  the  two  work  together  and  not  in  separate 
domains.  The  ditch- digger  is  taught  something  of  drainage, 
sewerage,  etc.  It  is  the  dawn  of  the  recognition  of  the  noetic 
instinct  that  has  prompted  a  few  firms  in  this  country  to  do 
some  one,  some  several  of  the  following  things. 

Some  make  periodic  shifts  from  one  process  to  a  very  dif- 
ferent one  so  that  each  workman  becomes  familiar  with  several, 
and  a  few  have  a  regular  rotation  by  which  each  may  acquire 
some  skill  in  most  processes.  Sometimes  workmen  are  taken  in 
groups  throughout  the  entire  works  by  one  employed  for  that 
purpose  who  explains  to  them  everything  so  that  they  may  see 
the  bearing  their  particular  process  has  upon  the  finished  product. 
This  may  take  months  in  a  large  concern,  but  it  is  said  to  pay. 
Movies,  too,  are  called  into  service  in  various  factories  so  that 
at  intermissions  or  at  the  close  of  certain  days  men  can  see  the 
processes  on  the  screen.  Other  firms  have  gotten  up  and  given 
freely  to  every  employee  elegantly  illustrated  textbooks,  e.g.,  a 
leather  book,  steel  book,  harvester  book,  automobile  book,  etc., 
and  this  has  stimulated  interest,  sometimes  to  a  high  degree. 


i8  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

Others  have  inaugurated  a  new  kind  of  shop  committee,  not  to 
confer  on  the  question  of  wages  but  upon  processes  and  labor- 
saving  devices  and  to  advance  joint  interests.  Automatic 
machinery,  e.g.,  a  cotton  loom,  can  be  so  loaded  with  shuttles 
that  it  will  run,  with  no  man  in  the  building,  for  several  hours 
and  then  stop,  and  this  makes  for  the  shortening  of  hours. 
Still  other  firms  encourage  bringing  in  visitors,  especially  the 
families  of  the  workmen,  and  showing  them  through  the  mill, 
for  this  is  thought  to  have  a  stimulating  influence  upon  the 
workman,  not  only  while  the  visitors  are  looking  on  but  after- 
wards for  he  wishes  to  show  his  skill  and  dignify  the  importance 
of  his  work.  In  some  establishments  every  process  is  checked 
off  to  the  individual  so  that  any  defect,  even  when  discovered 
a  long  time  afterwards,  can  be  brought  home  to  the  operator. 
This  increases  his  sense  of  responsibility  and  also  helps  to 
develop  a  pride  in  good  work.  Other  agencies  which  enable 
every  worker,  in  ever  so  narrow  a  specialty,  to  see  the  whole 
are  often  supplemented  by  civic  instruction  because  many  of  our 
workers  come  from  hard  conditions  in  Europe,  e.g.,  the  Rus- 
sians in  whose  country  factory  conditions  are  as  bad  as  serfdom, 
so  that  here  they  are  prone,  all  the  more  because  of  their 
misfortunes  in  coming  to  this  land  of  promise  and  rosy  dreams, 
to  give  vent  to  all  the  antagonisms  that  were  justifiable  in  the 
old  country  but  utterly  baseless  here.  The  instinct  and  the 
example  of  so  many  educated,  rich,  young  men  in  England  in 
going  to  the  colonies,  and  here  in  going  West  or  beginning  at 
the  very  bottom  of  an  industry  as  workingmen  in  overalls  in 
order  to  test  themselves  out  and  rise  according  to  their  abilities, 
is  also  in  point. 

But  we  must  not  forget  that  this  same  instinct  impels  labor 
to  seek  to  know  all  about  profits  and  dividends  and  perhaps  to 
become  small  stockholders,  an  ambition  that  some  firms  are  now 
doing  so  much  to  help  realize  and  which  perhaps  all  should  do. 
The  workman  also  has  wider  outside  interests  as  a  citizen  and 
a  member  of  society,  and  these  we  should  do  far  more  to  guide 
into  the  right  channels  and  set  backfires  to  check  counsels  of 
violence  and  direct  action.  Our  government  at  the  beginning 
of  its  campaign  against  the  "reds"  burned  all  their  literature, 
as  Comstock  did  that  of  vice,  but  has  lately  seen  a  new  light, 
so  that  the  post-office  department  now  selects  samples  of  every 
scrap  of  seditious  and  anarchistic  literature,  even  to  clippings. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  19 

This  is  perhaps  the  most  complete  collection  of  its  kind  in  the 
world,  and  it  is  used  not  only  in  criminal  deportation  or  espion- 
age cases  but  will  be  available  for  the  future  study  of  the  social- 
clinician.  Our  academic  economists  and  even  sociologists,  freed 
from  excessive  war  censorship,  are  now  doing  invaluable  work 
for  the  diffusion  of  sane  ideas,  which  are  bound  to  be  a  great 
factor  in  the  harmonization  of  capital  and  labor,  slow  and  hard 
as  this  campaign  of  education  is  going  to  be. 

5.  It  has  been  said  that  almost  no  man  is  so  feeble  or 
deficient  in  mind  or  body  that  he  cannot  excel  in  something,  and 
conversely  that  the  very  best  man  will  fail  if  he  finds  himself 
in  the  wrong  place.  Psychology  is  just  learning  how  immensely 
individuals,  even  those  of  the  same  rank  and  training,  differ 
from  each  other,  and  how  immeasurably  more  effective  our 
entire  industrial  system  would  be  if  we  could  only  put  and 
keep  everybody  where  he  would  be  doing  his  best  thing.  Perhaps 
no  single  device  would  accomplish  more  to  give  our  country 
the  industrial  supremacy  it  merits  and  now  has  the  unique 
opportunity  to  attain  in  the  world  than  the  very  arduous  one  of 
getting  all  the  square  men  in  square  holes  and  all  the  round  men 
into  the  round  holes  rather  than  vice  versa,  which  means 
wastage  incalculable.  We  are  tunneling  this  problem  from  both 
sides  of  the  mountain;  on  the  one  hand,  we  have  those  who 
devote  themselves  to  job  analysis,  finding  just  the  traits  most 
necessary  for  each  vocation  and  even  each  specialty,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  vocational  guidance  studies  individuals  to  find 
the  one  thing  that  nearly  all  can  do  well.  We  know  the  incal- 
culable service  that  the  personnel  department  rendered  the  army 
by  listing  not  only  the  trade  but  from  three  to  five  degrees  of 
proficiency  in  it  which  each  soldier  had  acquired,  utilizing  thus 
all  the  skills  required  in  times  of  peace.  Now  there  is  a  rapidly 
growing  recognition  of  "the  advantages  of  the  same  kind  of 
psychology  for  the  arts  of  peace.  True,  much  of  the  work 
has  hitherto  been  done  by  amateurs  and  even  fakirs,  but  many 
firms  are  now  seeking  trained  psychologists  to  test  their  em- 
ployees and  assign  them  to  the  place  in  the  system  for  which 
they  have  the  best  native  or  acquired  aptitudes.  With  aptitude, 
it  must  be  remembered,  goes  taste  and  interest,  so  that  not  only 
productive  efficiency  but  content  is  thus  augmented.  We  have 
long  realized,  and  are  doing  so  now  more  than  ever  before,  the 
growing  specialization  necessary  for  effective  large-scale  produc- 


20  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

tion,  but  we  are  only  just  beginning  to  realize  the  fact  that 
Nature  itself  has  specialized  individuals  vastly  more  than  we 
supposed,  so  that  in  all  this  work  we  are  simply  utilizing  the 
energies  at  our  hand  untouched.  Almost  pathetic  are  some  of 
the  tales  of  workmen  whom  only  a  slight  analysis  would  have 
rescued  from  doing  things  for  which  they  were  utterly  unfit 
and  put  to  things  for  which  they  were  preeminently  fitted,  thus 
rendering  them  not  only  happier  but  more  secure  and  where 
the  differential  wage  system  prevails,  often  able  to  earn  more. 
Unless  all  signs  fail,  the  time  is  at  hand  when  everyone,  before 
finally  entering  upon  his  life  work,  whether  at  the  end  of  his 
required  schooling  or  at  graduation,  will  have  more  self- 
knowledge,  and  when  institutions  that  give  diplomas  will  also 
study  each  individual  more  and  be  able  to  advise  and  guide  him 
into  a  career  that  promises  the  most  for  him. 

6.  Man  is  the  most  gregarious  of  all  animals,  and 
gregarious  animals  are  far  more  intelligent  and  domestic- 
able than  those  of  solitary  habits.  Compare,  for  example,  the 
dog  and  the  cat.  But  man  is  the  most  gregarious  of  all  creatures 
and  was  so  even  before  the  time  of  his  simian  ancestors 
descended  from  the  trees.  The  prehistoric  Cro-Magnon  race 
eliminated  the  well-established  Neanderthals  in  primitive  Europe 
because  they  had  a  far  more  elaborate  social  organization. 
Man's  very  soul  languishes  in  solitude,  and  there  is  no  such 
stimulus  as  intercourse.  We  have  lately  listed  113  types  of 
child  organizations  but  no  one  has  even  attempted  to  list  all 
the  thousands  of  organizations  that  have  sprung  directly  from 
the  herd  instincts  in  adults. 

The  passion  to  get  together  and  act  collectively,  which  is 
seen  all  the  way  from  the  street  gang  and  mob  to  the  club, 
sect  and  party,  marks  man  as  preeminently  the  herd  animal. 
It  is  this  instinct  that  depletes  the  country  for  the  city,  that  is 
one  factor  in  the  difficulty  of  drawing  servant  girls  and  farm 
hands  into  the  country.  The  individual  needs  to  merge  with 
his  fellow-beings,  and  most  of  our  thinking  and  still  more  of 
our  feeling  is  done  collectively  in  groups.  Our  conduct  is  made 
up  for  the  most  part  of  suggested  action,  and  habits  and  char- 
acter are  molded  by  the  social  milieu.  There  are  few  psychic 
horrors  greater  than  those  described  as  due  to  long  confinement 
or  isolation  that  is  really  solitary,  and  when  condemned  to  this 
the  soul  instinctively  "pals"  with  the  lower  forms  of  life  or 
invents  imaginary  companions. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  21 

? 

This  instinct  is  one  of  the  chief  charms  of  the  jaloon.  and 
now  that  we  have  dispensed  with  it,  the  workman  finds  the 
vicariate  for  his  social  instincts  in  the  trade  union,  which  is 
thus  greatly  vitalized,  or  perhaps  even  in  the  excitement  of  a 
strike.  All  this  shows  that  for  this  instinct  for  an  assembly,  of 
getting  into  frequent  and  close  rapport  with  his  fellow-men 
provision  must  always  be  made,  for  every  kind  of  wholesome 
convivium  vents  and  releases  a  strain  and  tension  which  may 
break  out  in  riotous  form.  Never  has  trade  solidarity  and  con- 
sciousness been  so  intense  as  it  is  today  in  this  country,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  soviet  in  Russia  and  the  syndicalists  in  France, 
so  that  we  have  here  new  forces  to  which  we  must  readjust. 

I  have  thus  tabbed  off  and  very  inadequately  sketched  the 
six  instincts  which,  as  I  see  it,  psychology  deems  oldest  and 
most  basal.  There  are,  of  course,  plenty  more,  and  there  is 
still  much  diversity  of  view  as  to  the  relative  importance  and 
strength  of  the  fundamental  as  well  as  of  the  accessory  energies 
of  Mansoul.  There  are  also  many  other  very  different  chapters 
in  the  relation  of  the  science  I  represent  to  industry,  viz.,  the 
psychology  of  skill,  of  employers,  of  efficiency  and  inventions, 
etc.  But  I  think  that  I  only  voice  the  deep  conviction  of  every 
worker  in  this  field  in  saying  that  the  world  is  now  entering  a 
new  psychological  age,  which  perhaps  the  historians  of  the 
future  will  call  another  renaissance  in  recognition  of  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  psychic  forces  in  the  world,  forces  often  too 
deep  and  large  to  enter  the  narrow  field  of  consciousness. 
Primal  urges  of  the  soul,  some  of  them  as  old  as  animal  life 
itself,  set  in  action  currents  that  have  behind  them  the  whole 
momentum  of  evolution.  Manifold  as  are  the  expressions  of 
these  primordial  instincts,  plastic  as  human  nature  is  in  adapting 
to  new  environments,  in  some  respects  its  basal  traits  can  no 
more  be  changed  than  can  the  laws  of  physics  and  chemistry.  .  . 
There  is  one  and  only  one  source  to  which  we  can  turn  for 
hope  that  evolutionary  processes  will  not  be  reversed  but  go  on, 
and  that  is  to  the  unconscious  instinctive  nature  of  man,  which 
in  the  past  has  evolved  language,  religion  with  all  its  deities 
and  rites,  every  social,  political  and  industrial  institution,  and, 
because  man  is  a  herd  animal,  devised  so  many  ways  of 
checking  egoism.  His  sentiments,  feelings,  instincts  are  as  much 
vaster  than  his  intellect  as  the  folksoul  is  greater  than  the 
individual,  and  in  human  nature,  as  all  progress  bears  witness, 
the  good  predominates  over  the  bad.  It  is  these  deeper  currents 


22  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

in  the  human  soul  that  have  wrought  every  salvation  in  history, 
and  from  this  source  alone  can  salvation  now  come.  We  do 
not  yet  know  how.  It  will  come  by  no  panacea,  and  it  will 
not  come  suddenly  but  will  be  so  slow  and  hard  that  the  patience 
of  the  world  is  likely  to  be  tried  as  never  before.  It  may  not 
come  from  us  who  study  the  human  soul  because  its  problems 
are  too  vast  for  us,  but  it  is  well  that  we  are  beginning  to  feel 
a  new  responsibility  for  uncapping  energies.  We  are  at  the 
stage  where  chemistry  was  in  the  days  of  Lavoiseir  or  physics 
in  the  days  that  preceded  Newton.  But  our  young  men  are 
seeing  visions  and  our  old  men  are  dreaming  dreams  of  an  age 
when  psychic  forces  will  be  just  as  dominant  in  every  great 
enterprise  of  man  as  science  is  today  in  industry. 


SUBSTITUTING  HIGHER   MOTIVES   FOR 
LOWER  1 

I  suppose  most  of  us  would  admit  that  emulation  in  service 
is  desirable  and  is  actually  operative  in  some  quarters,  but  would 
question  whether  it  is  not  too  high  to  be  generally  practicable.  .  . 

Even  in  our  present  confused  and  selfish  scheme  of  economic 
life  the  best  work  is  largely  done  under  the  impulse  of  service 
emulation.  .  . 

Nor  can  there  be  much  doubt  that  a  great  part  of  mechanical 
workmen,  having  a  skilled  trade  into  which  it  is  possible  to  put 
interest  and  a  progressive  spirit,  are  animated  by  the  sense  of 
sharing  in  a  great  productive  whole.  Perhaps,  like  most  of  us, 
they  need  at  times  the  spur  of  knowing  that  they  must  work, 
but  this  is  not  what  is  most  present  to  their  imaginations  or 
elicits  their  best  endeavors.  The  wage  question,  as  the  focus 
of  controversy,  is  kept  before  the  mind  and  leads  us,  I  believe, 
to  exaggerate  the  part  which  pecuniary  calculations  play  in  the 
mind  of  the  handicraftsman.  For  the  most  part  he  resembles 
the  teacher  or  doctor  in  that  he  wishes  to  think  no  more  about 
money  in  connection  with  his  work  than  he  feels  he  has  to.  The 
mechanics  I  see  about  me — plumbers,  masons,  furnace-men  and 
the  like — are  as  full  of  the  zest  of  life  as  any  class;  they  lik 
the  struggle,  the  sense  of  hope  and  power  and  honest  service 


sy  like' 
ice.  / 


1  Charles  Horton  Cooley.  Social  process,  p.  130,  131,  134,  135,  139, 
140,  142,  321,  322,  323,  324,  325,  343.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.  New 
York.  1918. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  23 

It  is  almost  certain  that  the  grosser  forms  of  economic  want 
and  terror,  like  corporal  punishment  in  the  schoolroom,  paralyze 
rather  than  stimulate  the  energies  of  society.  This  liability  to 
starvation  and  freezing,  degradation  and  contempt  for  not  hav- 
ing money  in  one's  pocket,  with  no  inquiry  why,  this  nightmare 
of  evil  to  be  averted  not  by  service  but  by  money,  and  only 
money,  no  matter  how  you  get  it — this  is  overdoing  the  pecuniary 
motive.  It  brutalizes  the  imagination  and  creates  an  unhuman 
dread  that  impels  to  sensuality  and  despair.  .  . 

One  of  the  main  forces  in  keeping  economic  motive  on  a  low 
moral  level  has  been  the  doctrine  that  selfishness  is  all  we  need 
or  can  hope  to  have  in  this  phase  of  life.  Economists  have  too 
commonly  taught  that  if  each  man  seeks  his  private  interest  the 
good  of  society  will  take  care  of  itself,  and  the  somewhat 
anarchic  conditions  of  the  time  have  discouraged  a  better  theory. 
'In  this  way  we  have  been  confirmed  in  a  pernicious  state  of  be- 
lief and  practice,  for  which  discontent,  inefficiency,  and  revolt 
are  the  natural  penalty.  A  social  system  based  on  this  doctrine 
deserves  to  fail. 

When  pressed  regarding  this  matter  economists  have  not  de- 
nied that  their  system  rests  on  a  partial  and  abstract  view  of 
human  nature;  but  they  have  held  that  this  view  is  practically 
adequate  in  the  economic  field,  and  have  often  seemed  to  be- 
lieve that  it  sufficed  for  all  but  a  negligible  part  of  human  life. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  false  even  as  economics,  and  we  shall 
never  have  an  efficient  system  until  we  have  one  that  appeals  to 
the  imagination,  the  loyalty,  and  the  self-expression  of  the  men 
who  serve  it.  .  . 

By  a  sense  of  security  I  mean  the  feeling  that  there  is  a 
larger  and  more  enduring  life  surrounding,  appreciating,  up- 
holding the  individual,  and  guaranteeing  that  his  efforts  and 
sacrifice  will  not  be  in  vain.  I  might  almost  say  that  it  is  a  sense 
of  immortality;  if  not  that,  it  is  something  akin  to  and  looking 
toward  it,  something  that  relieves  the  precariousness  of  the 
merely  private  self.  It  is  rare  that  human  nature  sustains  a  high 
standard  of  behavior  without  the  consciousness  of  opinions  and 
sympathies  that  illuminate  the  standard  and  make  it  seem  worth 
while.  It  lies  deep  in  the  social  nature  of  our  minds  that  ideals 
can  hardly  seem  real  without  such  corroboration. 

In  a  still  more  tangible  sense  I  mean  a  reasonable  economic 
security.  A  man  can  hardly  have  a  good  spirit  if  he  feels  that 
the  ground  is  unsure  beneath  his  feet,  that  his  social  world  may 


24  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

disown  and  forget  him  tomorrow.  There  is  scarcely  anything 
more  appalling  to  the  human  spirit  than  this  feeling,  or  more 
destructive  of  all  generous  impulses.  It  is  an  old  observation 
that  fear  shrinks  the  soul;  and  there  is  no  fear  like  this.  The 
soldier  who  knows  that  he  may  be  killed  at  any  moment  may 
yet  be  perfectly  secure  in  a  psychological  sense;  secure  of  his 
duty  and  of  the  sympathy  of  his  fellows,  his  mind  quite  at  peace ; 
but  this  treachery  of  the  ground  we  stand  on  is  like  a  bad 
dream.  As  one  will  shrink  from  attaching  himself  in  love  and 
service  to  a  person  whom  he  feels  he  cannot  trust,  so  he  will 
from  giving  his  loyalty  to  an  insecure  position.  It  is  impossible 
that  such  tenure  of  function  as  now  chiefly  prevails  in  the  in- 
dustrial world  should  not  induce  selfishness,  restlessness,  and  a 
service  only  mercenary.  .  . 

While  it  is  not  indispensable,  in  order  to  secure  emulation 
in  service,  that  the  work  should  allow  of  self-expression  and  so 
be  attractive  in  itself,  yet  in  so  far  as  we  can  make  it  self-ex- 
pressive we  release  fresh  energies  of  the  human  mind.  The 
ideal  condition  is  to  have  something  of  the  spirit  of  art  in  every 
task,  a  sense  of  joyous  individual  creation.  We  are  formed  for 
development,  and  an  endless,  hopeless  repetition  is  justly  ab- 
horrent. No  matter  how  humble  a  man's  work,  he  will  do  it 
better  and  in  a  better  spirit  if  he  sees  that  he  can  improve  upon 
it  and  hope  to  pass  beyond  it. 

Judged  by  such  standards,  our  present  order  is  inefficient,  be- 
cause its  tasks  are  so  largely  narrow,  drudging,  meaningless,  in- 
human. .  . 

It  is  true  that  the  pecuniary  motive  may  also  be,  indirectly,  a 
motive  of  self-expression ;  that  is,  for  example,  a  girl  may  work 
hard  for  $10  with  which  to  buy  a  pretty  hat.  It  makes 
a  great  difference,  however,  whether  or  not  the  work  is  directly 
self-expressive,  whether  the  worker  feels  that  what  he  does  is 
joyous  and  rewarding  in  itself,  so  that  it  would  be  worth  doing 
whether  he  were  paid  for  it  or  not.  The  artist,  the  poet,  the 
skilled  craftsman  in  wood  and  iron,  the  born  teacher  or  lawyer, 
all  have  this  feeling,  and  it  is  desirable  that  it  should  become  as 
common  as  possible.  I  admit  that  the  line  is  not  a  sharp  one, 
but  on  the  whole  the  pecuniary  motive  may  be  said  to  be  an  ex- 
trinsic one,  as  compared  with  the  more  intrinsic  character  of 
those  others  which  I  have  called  motives  of  self-expression. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  25 

When  I  say  that  self-expression  is  a  regulator,  of  productive 
activity  I  mean  that,  like  the  pecuniary  motive,  though  in  a  dif- 
ferent way,  it  is  the  expression  of  an  organic  whole,  and  not 
necessarily  a  less  authoritative  expression.  What  a  man  feels 
to  be  self-expressive  springs  in  part  from  the  instincts  of  hu- 
man nature  and  in  part  from  the  form  given  to  those  instincts 
by  the  social  life  in  which  his  mind  develops.  Both  of  these  in- 
fluences spring  from  the  organic  life  of  the  human  race.  The 
man  of  genius  who  opens  new  ways  in  poetry  and  art,  the  social 
reformer  who  spends  his  life  in  conflict  with  inhuman  condi- 
tions, the  individual  anywhere  or  of  any  sort  who  tries  to  realize 
the  needs  of  his  higher  being,  represents  the  common  life  of 
man  in  a  way  that  may  have  a  stronger  claim  than  the  require- 
ments of  pecuniary  demand.  As  a  motive  it  is  quite  as  uni- 
versal as  the  latter,  and  there  is  no  one  of  us  who  has  not  the 
capacity  to  feel  it. 

As  regards  the  individual  himself,  self-expression  is  simply 
the  deepest  need  of  his  nature.  It  is  required  for  self-respect 
and  integrity  of  character,  and  there  can  be  no  question  more 
fundamental  than  that  of  so  ordering  life  that  the  mass  of  men 
may  have  a  chance  to  find  self-expression  in  their  principal  ac- 
tivity. .  . 

Self-expression  springs  from  the  deeper  and  more  obscure 
currents  of  life,  from  subconscious,  unmechanized  forces  which 
are  potent  without  our  understanding  why.  It  represents  hu- 
manity more  immediately  and  its  values  are,  or  may  be,  more 
vital  and  significant  than  those  of  the  market ;  we  may  look  to 
them  for  art,  for  science,  for  religion,  for  moral  improvement, 
for  all  the  fresher  impulses  to  social  progress.  The  onward 
things  of  life  usually  come  from  men  whose  imperious  self- 
expression  disregards  the  pecuniary  market.  In  humbler  tasks 
self-expression  is  required  to  give  the  individual  an  immediate 
and  lively  interest  in  his  work;  it  is  the  motive  of  art  and  joy, 
the  spring  of  all  vital  achievement.  .  .  Closely  related  to  this 
is  the  sense  of  worthy  service.  No  man  can  feel  that  his  work 
is  self-expressive  unless  he  believes  that  it  is  good  work  and 
can  see  that  it  serves  mankind.  If  the  product  is  trivial  or  base 
he  can  hardly  respect  himself,  and  the  demand  for  such  things, 
as  Ruskin  used  to  say,  is  a  demand  for  slavery.  Or  if  the  em- 
ployer for  whom  a  man  works  and  who  is  the  immediate  bene- 
ficiary of  his  labors  is  believed  to  be  self-seeking  beyond  what 


26  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

is  held  legitimate,  and  not  working  honorably  for  the  general 
good,  the  effect  will  be  much  the  same.  The  worst  sufferers 
from  such  employers  are  the  men  who  work  for  them,  whether 
their  wages  be  high  or  low. 

As  regards  the  general  relation  in  our  time  between  market 
value  and  self-expression,  the  fact  seems  to  be  something  as  fol- 
lows: Our  industrial  system  has  undergone  an  enormous  ex- 
pansion and  an  almost  total  change  of  character.  In  the  course 
of  this,  human  nature  has  been  dragged  along,  as  it  were,  by 
the  hair  of  the  head.  It  has  been  led  or  driven  into  kinds  of 
work  and  conditions  of  work  that  are  repugnant  to  it,  especially 
repugnant  in  view  of  the  growth  of  intelligence  and  of  democ- 
racy in  other  spheres  of  life.  The  agent  in  this  has  been  the 
pecuniary  motive  backed  by  the  absence  of  alternatives.  This 
pecuniary  motive  has  reflected  a  system  of  values  determined 
under  the  ascendancy,  direct  and  indirect,  of  the  commercial 
class  naturally  dominant  in  a  time  of  this  kind.  I  will  not  say 
that  as  a  result  of  this  state  of  things  the  condition  of  the  hand- 
workers is  worse  than  in  a  former  epoch;  in  some  respects  it 
seems  worse,  in  many  it  is  clearly  better;  but  certainly  it  is  far 
from  what  it  should  be  in  view  of  the  enormous  growth  of  hu- 
man resources. 

In  the  economic  philosophy  which  has  prevailed  along  with 
this  expansion,  the  pecuniary  motive  has  been  accepted  as  the 
legitimate  principle  of  industrial  organization  to  the  neglect  of 
self-expression.  The  human  self,  however,  is  not  to  be  treated 
thus  with  impunity;  it  is  asserting  itself  in  a  somewhat  general 
discontent  and  in  many  specific  forms  of  organized  endeavor. 
The  commercialism  that  accepts  as  satisfactory  present  values 
and  the  method  of  establishing  them  is  clearly  on  the  decline 
and  we  have  begun  to  work  for  a  more  self-expressive  order.  .  . 

Production  has  not  always  lacked  ideals,  nor  does  it  every- 
where lack  them  at  present.  They  come  when  the  producing 
group  gets  a  corporate  consciousness  and  a  sense  of  the  social 
worth  of  its  functions.  The  mediaeval  guilds  developed  high 
traditions  and  standards  of  workmanship,  and  held  their  mem- 
bers to  them.  They  thought  of  themselves  in  terms  of  service, 
and  not  merely  as  purveyors  to  a  demand.  In  our  time  the  same 
is  to  some  extent  true  of  trades  and  professions  in  which  a 
sense  of  workmanship  has  been  developed  by  tradition  and  train- 
ing. Doctors  and  lawyers  are  not  content  to  give  us  what  we 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  27 

want  in  their  line,  but  hold  it  their  duty  to  teach  us  what  we 
ought  to  want,  to  refuse  things  that  are  not  for  our  best  good 
and  urge  upon  us  those  that  are.  Artists,  teachers,  men  of  let- 
ters, do  the  same.  A  good  carpenter,  if  you  give  him  the  chance, 
will  build  a  better  house  than  the  owner  can  appreciate ;  he  loves 
to  do  it  and  feels  obscurely  that  it  is  his  part  to  realize  an  ideal 
of  sound  construction.  The  same  principle  ought  to  hold  good 
throughout  society,  each  functional  group  forming  ideals  of  its 
own  function  and  holding  its  members  to  them.  Consuming  and 
producing  groups  should  cooperate  in  this  matter,  each  making 
requirements  which  the  other  might  overlook.  The  somewhat 
anarchical  condition  that  is  now  common  we  may  hope  to  be 
transitory.  The  general  rule  is  that  a  stable  group  has  a 
tendency  to  create  for  itself  ideals  of  service  in  accord  with 
the  ruling  ideals  of  society  at  large. 


MOTIVES  IN  LARGE  SCALE  BUSINESS  1 

Four  main  motives  have  led  men  to  expand  business  enter- 
prises. On  the  whole  they  are  not  economic,  but  rather  psycho- 
logical; they  are  the  motives  incident  to  the  struggle  for  con- 
quest and  achievement — the  precious  legacy  of  man's  "predatory 
barbarism."  Primarily  a  man  measures  the  success  of  a  business 
by  increased  size,  and  secondarily  by  increased  profits. 

The  most  powerful  motive  that  leads  a  man  to  expand  a 
business  is  the  illusion  of  valuing  himself  in  terms  of  his  setting. 
The  bigger  the  business,  the  bigger  the  man.  A  man  prefers  to 
direct  a  large  business  rather  than  a  small  one;  just  as  the 
borough  president  seeks  the  mayoralty  and  the  mayor,  the 
governorship.  He  likes  to  feel  himself  of  influence  in  the  sphere 
of  his  activity.  He  likes  to  be  somebody,  to  occupy  a  "place  in 
the  sun"  in  the  business  world. 

This  motive  is  much  more  fundamental  than  is  usually 
realised.  A  man  who  operates  successfully  a  corner  drug  store 
may  be  content  with  the  business  as  it  is,  provided  he  finds  the 
field  of  his  primary  interests  outside  of  his  business — home, 
sport,  or  an  avocation.  In  such  a  case,  which  is  common,  the 
business  is  an  insignificant  means  to  an  end.  It  is  not  a  part 

1  Arthur  Stone  Dewing.  The  Financial  Policy  of  Corporations.  Vol.  4. 
p.  4-7.  The  Ronald  Press  Company.  New  York.  1920. 


28  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

of  the  real  life  of  the  man,  but  merely  an  attendant  circumstance 
in  the  problem  of  extracting  a  livelihood  out  of  a  competitive 
and  unsentimental  world.  But  such  men  are  not  true  business 
managers  in  the  sense  that  the  economist  uses  the  word  "man- 
ager" or  "entrepreneur."  Their  field  of  achievement  is  not 
business.  Men  who  can  be  even  broadly  classified  as  business 
managers  and  who  value  success  in  productive  enterprise  as 
something  worth  while  in  itself — rather  than  as  an  insignificant 
means  to  a  greater  end — want  their  business  undertaking  to 
bear  the  outward  signs  of  successful  achievement.  Increasing 
size  is  the  most  obvious  of  these  signs.  The  race-old  instinct 
of  conquest  becomes  translated  in  our  twentieth  century  eco- 
nomic world  into  the  prosaic  terms  of  corporate  growth.  Busi- 
ness expansion  is  the  spirit  of  a  modern  Tamerlane  seeking 
new  markets  to  conquer.  It  is  a  pawn  for  human  ambition. 

The  second  motive,  less  significant,  one  is  led  to  believe,  is 
the  creative  impulse.  A  business  manager  has  an  aversion  to 
stagnation;  he  wishes  to  be  constructive.  He  wishes  to  make 
actual  the  vague  images  of  progress.  The  only  field  with  which 
he  is  familiar  is  his  business,  and  in  the  fortunes  of  his  business 
he  sees  the  realization  of  his  ideals.  It  is  a  commonplace 
psychology,  current  since  the  brilliant  introspective  studies  of 
the  elder  Mill  and  Reid,  that  somewhere  in  the  mental  structure 
of  all  of  us  lies  the  impulse  to  build,  to  see  our  ideas  take  form 
in  material  results.  The  impulse  to  build  is  at  the  same  time  an 
important  element  in  inventive  and  artistic  genius  and  in  skilful 
craftsmanship.  The  particular  form  in  which  it  finds  expression 
is,  among  men  of  ordinary  ability,  certainly  a  matter  of  accident. 
And  the  particular  form  close  at  hand  to  the  business  manager 
is  his  business.  A  distinguished  business  manager,  at  sixty- 
nine  years  of  age,  to  whom  wealth  had  ceased  to  have  a  signif- 
icance, was  heard  to  outline  in  detail  for  an  already  well- 
rounded  and  world-wide  business,  steps  in  reconstruction  and 
enlargement  which  would  ordinarily  take  a  lifetime  to  achieve. 
An  expanding  business  affords  a  sphere  for  the  kind  of  creative 
expression  demanded  by  our  twentieth  century  industrialism. 

The  third  motive  is  the  economic.  My  own  observation  is 
that  the  vast  majority  of  business  men  who  plan  enlargement, 
consolidations,  and  extensions  of  their  business  are  not  actuated 
primarily  by  the  impulse  to  make  more  money,  although  they 
unquestionably  place  this  motive  uppermost  when  they  need  to 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  29 

present  plans  for  enlargement  to  directors  and  stockholders. 
Since  increased  profits  have  so  obvious  and  direct  an  appeal, 
and  since  no  other  motive  can  sufficiently  justify  the  investment 
of  other  people's  money,  it  is  natural  to  place  the  motive  of 
increased  profits  foremost.  And  it  appears  foremost  in  every 
business  manager's  mind  when  he  attempts  to  justify  a  business 
policy  which  may  have  been  in  the  first  instance  subconsciously 
prompted  by  less  obvious  and  more  basal  motives. 

The  fourth  motive  is  the  satisfaction  in  taking  speculative 
chances.  Business  managers  like  to  -be  dealing  with  a  future 
full  of  concrete  uncertainties.  They  like  to  apply  direct 
empirical  tests  to  business  policies,  the  results  of  which  are  at 
best  uncertain.  A  successful  business  manager  is  invariably  a 
man  of  imagination.  Invariably  the  man  of  imagination  revels 
in  uncertainties.  He  is  by  nature  a  speculator — if  we  use  the 
term  in  its  broadest  significance  and  without  disparagement. 
The  development  of  constructive  plans  partakes  of  the  nature  of 
a  game.  All  men  enjoy  the  game  they  think  they  can  play. 


^ 


II.  EXECUTIVE  MANAGEMENT  AND 
THE  MIND  OF  THE  WORKER 

(^Virtually  all  psychologists  observe  that  business  managers 
commonly  miscalculate  the  mind  of  the  worker  in  that  they 
attribute  his  shortcomings  and  misbehavior  to  wilful  and  delib- 
erate perversenessTj  The  repeated  complaint  made  by  manage- 
ment is  that  the  faults,  sins  and  inefficiencies  of  labor  are  the 
result  of  a  pernicious  act  of  will.  ^The  corresponding  assump- 
tion is  that  labor  ought  to  change  its  mind  by  an  act  of  will, 
ought  to  see  the  reasonable  way  of  behavior,  ought  to  revise  its 
mental  outlook  as  a  matter  of  volition  and  self-control.  This 
common  view  held  by  management  grossly  overrates  the  element 
of  detached  and  independent  reason  and  grossly  underrates  the 
element  of  impulsive  human  nature.  The  faults  and  perversities 
of  labor  are  due  to  natural  causes,  and  certain  pioneer  managers 
have  found  that  by  changing  the  natural  causes,  they  eliminate 
the  faults  and  perversities,  and  substitute  for  them  sound  mental 
attitudes  and  efficient  behavior.  Psychologists  generally  empha- 
size that  the  so-called  faults  of  labor  are  due  to  unscientific 
methods  of  management  which  do  not  rightly  encourage  the 
"wholesome  tendencies"  of  human  nature  nor  "curb  the  perni- 
cious tendencies."  In  other  words,\psychology  indicates  that 
the  responsibility  for  the  misconduct  of  labor  rests  not  with  P 
labor,  but  with  management)  Executives  cannot  shift  the  blame 
upon  a  perverse  human  nature  on  the  part  of  the  workers,  for 
their  human  nature  is  as  good  as  that  of  anybody  else.  The 
blame  rests  upon  executives  for  not  having  developed  methods 
of  management  which  direct  the  human  nature  of  the  workers 
in  the  proper  channels. 

At  the  outset,  therefore,  psychology  presents  a  strong  chal- 
lenge to  management  to  accept  the  responsibility  for  recon- 
structing business  practises  so  as  to  "help  the  better  and  repress 
the  pernicious  tendencies"  of  labor.  But  this  challenge  comes  face 
to  face  with  many  traditional  axioms  of  management  and  with 
a  background  and  outlook  which  often  are  slow  to  change.  A 


32  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

few  pioneer  business  men  here  and  there  acquire  the  viewpoint 
of  modern  psychology  and  demonstrate  in  practical  achievements 
what  can  be  done.  The  rapidity  with  which  the  rank  and  file 
of  executive  management  come  to  understand  the  mind  of  the 
worker  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  the  pioneer  managers 
determines  the  rate  of  industrial  progress. 


A  BROAD  PERSPECTIVE  IN  HUMAN  CONTROL1 

As  the  tendencies  of  human  nature  are  the  permanent  basis 
of  study  which  gives  to  the  subject  called  Political  Science 
whatever  scientific  quality  it  possesses,  so  the  practical  value 
of  that  science  consists  in  tracing  and  determining  the  relation 
of  these  tendencies  to  the  institutions  which  men  have  created 
for  guiding  their  life  in  a  community.  Certain  institutions  have 
been  found  by  experience  to  work  better  than  others;  i.e.,  they 
give  more  scope  to  the  wholesome  tendencies,  and  curb  the, 
pernicious  tendencies.  Such  institutions  have  also  a  retroactive 
action  upon  those  who  live  under  them.  Helping  men  to  good- 
will, self-restraint,  intelligent  cooperation,  they  form  what  we 
call  a  solid  political  character,  temperate  and  law-abiding,  prefer- 
ring peaceful  to  violent  means  for  the  settlement  of  contro- 
versies. Where,  on  the  other  hand,  institutions  have  been  ill- 
constructed,  or  too  frequently  changed  to  exert  this  educative 
influence,  men  make  under  them  little  progress  toward  a  steady 
and  harmonious  life.  To  find  the  type  of  institutions  best 
calculated  to  help  the  better  and  repress  the  pernicious  tendencies 
is  the  task  of  the  philosophic  enquirer,  who  lays  the  foundations 
upon  which  the  legislator  builds.  A  people  through  which  good 
sense  and  self-control  are  widely  diffused  is  itself  the  best  phil- 
osopher and  the  best  legislator,  as  is  seen  in  the  history  of  Rome 
and  in  that  of  England.  It  was  to  the  sound  judgment  and 
practical  quality  in  these  two  peoples  that  the  excellence  of 
their  respective  constitutions  and  systems  of  law  was  due,  not 
that  in  either  people  wise  men  were  exceptionally  numerous, 
but  that  both  were  able  to  recognize  wisdom  when  they  saw  it, 
and  willingly  followed  the  leaders  who  possessed  it.  .  . 

The  ancient  world,  having  tried  many  experiments  in  free 

1  James  Bryce.    Modern  Democracies.    Vol.  i.    p.  9,  10,  12.    Published 
by  The   Macmillan   Company.     1921.     Reprinted  by  permission. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  33 

government,  relapsed  wearily  after  their  failure  into  an  accept- 
ance of  monarchy  and  turned  its  mind  quite  away  from  political 
questions.  More  than  a  thousand  years  elapsed  before  this  long 
sleep  was  broken.  The  modern  world  did  not  occupy  itself 
seriously  with  the  subject  nor  make  any  persistent  efforts  to 
win  an  ordered  freedom  till  the  sixteenth  century.  Before  us 
in  the  twentieth  a  vast  and  tempting  field  stands  open,  a  field 
ever  widening  as  new  States  arise  and  old  States  pass  into  new 
phases  of  life.  More  workers  are  wanted  in  that  field.  Regard- 
ing the  psychology  of  men  in  politics,  the  behaviour  of  crowds, 
the  forms  in  which  ambitions  and  greed  appear,  much  that  was 
said  long  ago  by  historians  and  moralists  is  familiar,  and  need 
not  be,  now,  repeated.  But  the  working  of  institutions  and 
laws,  the  forms  in  which  they  best  secure  liberty  and  order, 
and  enable  the  people  to  find  the  men  fit  to  be  trusted  with 
power — these  need  to  be  more  fully  investigated  by  a  study  of 
what  has  proved,  in  practice,  to  work  well  or  ill.  It  is  Facts  that 
are  needed:  Facts,  Facts,  Facts. 


THE  CHALLENGE  TO  MODERN  MANAGEMENT1 

In  recent  weeks  we  have  heard  much  about  the  efficiency  of 
industrial  democracy,  of  shop  committees,  of  senate  and  house 
plan,  of  collective  bargaining,  as  the  panaceas  for  all  labor 
problems.  During  the  same  period,  we  have  had  striking 
examples  of  the  inadequacy  of  all  these  plans.  Industrial  democ- 
racy is  a  misnomer  unless  fairly  and  honestly  applied.  Collective 
bargaining  is  a  great  danger  if  wrongly  applied  and  used  as  an 
instrument  of  autocratic  power. 

No — labor  problems  have  always  existed  and  are  likely  to 
continue.  There  is  no  panacea,  as  industrial  democracy,  profit 
sharing,  committee  system,  open  shop,  closed  shop  or  collective 
bargaining.  None  of  these  agencies  will  accomplish  or  avail 
much  unless  there  be  behind  them  and  disseminated  through 
every  fibre  and  thread,  the  spirit  of  fairness,  honesty  and  justice. 
If  these  principles  be  present,  there  will  be  no  labor  trouble. 
And  again,  if  they  be  present,  it  does  not  matter  much  what 
plan  is  used.  This  accounts  for  many  striking  examples  of  the 

1  L.  W.  Wallace,  President  of  the  Society  of  Industrial  Engineers.  An- 
nual address.  Report  of  Proceedings,  October  29-31,  1919-  P-  "-12- 


34  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

successful  management  of  labor  through  each  of  the  plans, 
named.  Because  these  successful  examples  can  be  pointed  out 
is  the  reason  for  the  confusion  in  the  minds  of  many — whereas 
if  a  close  analysis  be  made,  it  would  be  found  that  the  whole- 
some conditions  existing  in  each  case  were  not  due  to  the  plan 
in  vogue,  but  to  the  fact  that  the  employer  and  the  employee 
each,  in  turn,  was  a  believer  in,  and  a  practiser  of,  the  cardinal  ' 
virtues  of  honesty,  fairness  and  justice. 

The  unfortunate  thing  is  that  many  employees;  many  em- 
ployers; many  associations  of  employers;  many  labor  organiza- 
tions, have  violated  and  ignored  these  principles.  Through  the 
utter  disregard  of  the  principles  of  honesty,  fairness  and  justice, 
great  damage  has  been  done,  and  to  quote,  "Great  powers  have 
been  used  arbitrarily  and  autocratically,  to  exact  unmerited 
profit  or  compensation  by  both  capital  and  labor.  This  policy 
of  exacting  profit  rather  than  rendering  service  has  wasted 
enormous  stores  of  human  and  natural  resources,  and  has  put 
in  places  of  authority  those  who  seek  selfish  advantage  regard- 
less of  the  interests  of  the  community."  The  problem  before 
the  American  public  is  to  evolve  those  plans  and  to  inaugurate 
those  policies  that  will  make  such  use  of  arbitrary  and  auto- 
cratic power  a  grave  offense  against  the  community  and  to  make 
it  impossible  for  any  such  arbitrary  power  to  invoke  its  wrath 
against  the  will  and  against  the  welfare  of  the  masses.  Such 
plans  should  provide  severe  and  sure  punishment  for  the  auto- 
cratic employer  or  autocratic  labor  leader  who  wilfully  violates 
the  principles  of  honesty,  fairness  and  justice,  and  by  such  vio- 
lations brings  hardships,  despair  and  heartaches  upon  the  masses. 
One  is  just  as  guilty  as  the  other  and  we  have  had  glaring  ex- 
amples of  the  evils  of  the  financial  trust  and  of  the  labor  trust. 
Both  are  equally  culpable  and  both  should  be  dealt  with  in  like 
manner. 

Many  of  the  abuses  have  grown  up  through  ignorance  of 
cause  and  effect.  Poor  management,  incompetent  supervision, 
excessive  equipment,  large  inventories,  poor  equipment,  inade- 
quate sales  policies  and  other  causes  have  resulted  in  reduced 
i  income  and  a  loss  of  net  profits.  Ignorance  of  the  causes  leads 
to  a  misinterpretation  of  the  reason  for  the  effects.  In  arriving 
at  a  solution  incompetency  in  management  again  shows  itself ; 
faulty  analysis  and  incorrect  conclusions  follow.  Wages  are 
cut,  demands  increased,  working  conditions  made  less  desirable; 
all  of  which  is  a  disregard  of  the  principles  of  honesty,  fairness 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  35 

and  justice.  The  result  being  strained  relationships,  strikes, 
bloodshed,  destruction  of  property — no  one  permanently  bene- 
fitted. 

Ignorance  of  cause  and  effect  on  the  part  of  labor  leads  to 
many  misinterpretations  and  faulty  conclusions ;  such  as  to  be- 
lieve that  to  limit  production  is  to  benefit  the  worker;  to  de- 
crease the  length  of  the  work-day  is  conducive  to  prosperity  and 
the  well  being  of  society  and  of  labor;  to  oppose  the  training 
of  the  worker,  to  place  all  workers  in  a  given  trade  on  a  par, 
regardless  of  capacity  or  ability,  to  demand  compensation  for 
which  no  adequate  service  has  been  rendered,  to  deny  the  right 
bf  individual  choice  of  employment.  These  policies  inevitably 
lead  to  reduction  of  production,  increased  cost,  to  suspicion,  to 
the  disregard  of  the  rights  of  property,  to  the  rights  of  indi- 
viduals and  to  the  rights  of  society.  The  result  being  strained 
relationships,  strikes,  bloodshed,  destruction  of  property, — no 
one  benefitted. 

It  is  the  function  and  province  of  the  industrial  engineer  to 
make  correct  analysis,  to  predict  effects  through  known  causes. 
It  is  purely  the  mission  of  the  industrial  engineer  of  wide  ex- 
perience, of  great  foresight  and  of  unselfish  motive  to  see  to  it : 

First: — That  every  action  is  based  upon  the  principles  of 
honesty,  fairness  and  justice  to  the  employee,  to  the  employer 
and  to  the  public. 

Second: — To  so  formulate  the  plan  of  action  as  to  eliminate 
all  unfair  privilege  of  employer  and  employee  and  to  make  it 
possible  for  each  to  fulfill  its  responsibilities  to  the  community. 

Third: — To  so  organize  the  plant  or  industry  as  to  make  it 
exceedingly  difficult  for  an  incompetent  to  hold  a  position  of 
authority  or  to  exert  autocratic  control. 


THE  BACKGROUND  OF  GREAT  BUSINESS  MEN1 

Possibly  the  chief  influence  in  the  long  run  in  promoting 
combinations  of  capital,  as  well  as  their  most  far-reaching  effect 
in  the  earlier  days  of  the  trusts,  was  the  element  of  personal 
ambition  which  is  fostered  by  monopoly.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that,  in  the  case  of  the  larger  industrial  combinations,  the 
belief  on  the  part  of  the  managers  that  a  virtual  monopoly  could 

1  Jeremiah  W.  Jenks  and  Walter  E.  Clark.  The  Trust  Problem.  Rev. 
ed.  4th  ed.  175-6.  Doubleday,  Page  and  Company.  Garden  City,  L.  I.  1917. 


36  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

be  secured  was  a  powerful  element  toward  bringing  about  their 
formation.  The  pride  of  power,  and  the  pleasure  which  comes 
from  the  exercise  of  great  power,  are  in  themselves  exceedingly 
attractive  to  strong  men.  As  one  with  political  aspirations  will 
sacrifice  much  and  take  many  risks  for  the  sake  of  securing 
political  preferment  in  order  that  he  may  in  this  way  rule  his 
fellows,  so  a  successful  organizer  of  business  derives  keen 
satisfaction  from  feeling  that  he  alone  is  practically  directing 
the  destinies  of  a' great  people,  so  far  as  his  one  line  of  business 
is  concerned.  Mr.  Havemeyer  said  that  his  ambition  was  to 
refine  the  sugar  of  the  American  people.  Mr.  Gates  asserted 
that  it  was  the  ambition  of  the  organizers  of  the  American 
Steel  and  Wire  Company  to  control  the  wire  output  of  the 
world.  One  cannot  say  that  these  ambitions  are  not  as  worthy 
as  those  of  politicians,  and  as  natural.  No  one  can  question 
that  these  elements  of  personal  satisfaction  and  pride  are  most 
powerful  factors  in  all  lines  of  social  intercourse,  and  this 
pride  could  not  be  gratified  in  business  short  of  the  belief  on 
the  part  of  these  men  that  they  can  secure  a  practical  monopoly. 
This  ambition  will  not  be  gratified  by  the  control  of  merely 
a  very  large  business.  Napoleon  was  not  content  to  be  the 
head  of  a  great  state.  His  ambition  would  brook  no  rival. 
May  not  the  ambition  of  a  sugar  king  or  a  petroleum  magnate 
well  be  of  like  imperial  nature,  though  in  a  more  restricted 
field?  And  yet,  in  the  case  of  Napoleon  and  possibly  of  other 
potentates  of  later  date  the  event  showed  that  ambition  had 
overleaped  itself.  Likewise  the  chief  successes  of  later  years 
have  seemed  to  rest  with  those  who  have  been  content  with 
less  than  world  domination  and  who  have  been  ready  to  accept 
merely  strong  leadership. 


THE   PROFOUND   RESPONSIBILITY   OF   BUSI- 
NESS EXECUTIVES  1 

Our  task,  thus,  is  nothing  less  than  to  rehumanize  industry, 
to  break  down  the  disastrous  partition  that  has  grown  up 
between  brain-work  and  hand-work,  to  appeal  at  every  step  to 

1  G.  Stanley  Hall.  Address  given  at  the  Fifth  Annual  Convention 
of  the  Vocational  Educational  Association  of  the  Middle  West,  Chicago, 
January  17,  1919.  Pedagogical  Seminary.  Vol.  26.  1919.  p.  77-8. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  37 

mind  lest  we  add  to  the  degradation  of  labor,  remembering  that 
the  brain  in  its  evolution  was  hand-made  and  that  in  all  pro- 
gressive periods  of  the  past  the  two  have  always  gone  and 
grown  together.  We  must  find  a  way  of  putting  not  merely 
head  and  intelligence  but  heart  into  work,  as  also  was  the  case 
of  yore.  We  must  search  everywhere  for  the  culture  elements — 
which  are  inherent  in  every  industry  and  even  in  every  process, 
and  which  it  is  the  tragedy  of  modern  industrialism  to  have  lost. 
Work  has  made  and  it  alone  can  perfect  man;  hence  we  must 
attempt  to  restore  or  else  create  a  morale  in  every  great  branch 
of  industry.  All  this  stupendous  task  I  believe  can  be  wrought 
out,  because  nearly  every  item  of  it  has  been  accomplished 
somewhere  at  some  time. 

There  is  a  very  pregnant  sense  in  which  the  war  is  not 
ended  but  only  transferred  to  other  fields  to  be  carried  on  by 
other  agents.  Those  of  us  who  have  not  smelled  powder  must 
now  come  forward  and  take  up  the  battle  which  is  waged 
against  conservatism  and  inertia,  by  which  things  tend  to  slip 
back  into  the  same  old  ruts  as  before  if  we  do  not  mobilize 
and  use  all  the  unprecedented  opportunities  and  incentives  to 
reform  to  make  the  educational,  industrial,  social,  political  and 
religious  world  fitter  to  live  in;  for  otherwise  we  break  faith 
with  the  millions  who  have  died.  Our  foes  are  timidity  and 
laziness  in  this  new  spiritual  conflict  to  which  the  battle  of  arms 
has  bequeathed  its  precious  legacy.  To  say  that  reforms  are 
now  needed,  though  hard  and  dangerous,  is  true,  but  to  leave 
them  unattacked  is  a  slackerdom  unworthy  of  the  spirit  of  our 
armies  in  France.  The  new  struggles  we  ought  to  enter  upon 
are  the  harvest  of  victory,  and  are  harder  and  will  take  far 
longer  than  the  war  itself. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  UNANALYZED  CUSTOMS 
("MORES")  * 

A  society  is  never  conscious  of  its  mores  until  it  comes  in 
contact  with  some  other  society  which  has  different  mores,  or 
until,  in  higher  civilization,  it  gets  information  by  literature. 
The  latter  operation,  however,  affects  only  the  literary  classes. 

1  William  G.  Sumner.  Folkways,  p.  78-80.  Ginn  and  Company.  Bos- 
ton. 1911. 


.>S  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

not  the  masses,  and  society  never  consciously  sets  about  the 
task  of  making  mores.  In  the  early  stages  mores  are  elastic 
and  plastic;  later  they  become  rigid  and  fixed.  They  seem  to 
grow  up,  gain  strength,  become  corrupt,  decline,  and  die,  as  if 
they  were  organisms.  The  phases  seem  to  follow  each  other 
by  an  inherent  necessity,  and  as  if  independent  of  the  reason 
and  will  of  the  men  affected,  but  the  changes  are  always  pro- 
duced by  a  strain  toward  better  adjustment  of  the  mores  to 
conditions  and  interests  of  the  society,  or  of  the  controlling 
elements  in  it.  A  society  does  not  record  its  mores  in  its  annals, 
because  they  are  to  it  unnoticed  and  unconscious.  When  we  try 
to  learn  the  mores  of  any  age  or  people  we  have  to  seek  our 
information  in  incidental  references,  allusions,  observations  of 
travelers,  etc.  Generally  works  of  fiction,  drama,  etc.,  give  us 
more  information  about  the  mores  than  historical  records.  It 
is  very  difficult  to  construct  from  the  Old  Testament  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  mores  of  the  Jews  before  the  captivity.  It  is  also 
very  difficult  to  make  a  complete  and  accurate  picture  of  the 
mores  of  the  English  colonies  in  North  America  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  mores  are  not  recorded  for  the  same 
reason  that  meals,  going  to  bed,  sunrise,  etc.,  are  not  recorded, 
unless  the  regular  course  of  things  is  broken. 

Inertia  and  Rigidity  of  the  Mores 

We  see  that  we  must  conceive  of  the  mores  as  a  vast  system 
of  usages,  covering  the  whole  life,  and  serving  all  its  interests; 
also  containing  in  themselves  their  own  justification  by  tradition 
and  use  and  wont,  and  approved  by  mystic  sanctions  until,  by 
rational  reflection,  they  develop  their  own  philosophical  and 
ethical  generalizations,  which  are  elevated  into  "principles"  of 
truth  and  right.  They  coerce  and  restrict  the  newborn  genera- 
tion. They  do  not  stimulate  to  thought,  but  the  contrary.  The 
thinking  is  already  done  and  is  embodied  in  the  mores.  They 
never  contain  any  provision  for  their  own  amendment.  They 
are  not  questions,  but  answers,  to  the  problem  of  life.  They 
present  themselves  as  final  and  unchangeable,  because  they 
present  answers  which  are  offered  as  "the  truth."  No  world 
philosophy,  until  the  modern  scientific  world  philosophy,  and 
that  only  within  a  generation  or  two,  has  ever  presented  itself 
as  perhaps  transitory,  certainly  incomplete,  and  liable  to  be  set 
aside  tomorrow  by  more  knowledge.  No  popular  world  phil- 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  39 

osophy  or  life  policy  ever  can  present  itself  in  that  light.  It 
would  cost  too  great  a  mental  strain.  All  the  groups  whose 
mores  we  consider  far  inferior  to  our  own  are  quite  as  well 
satisfied  with  theirs  as  we  are  with  ours.  The  goodness  or 
badness  of  mores  consists  entirely  in  their  adjustment  to  the 
life  conditions  and  the  interests  of  the  time  and  place.  •  There- 
fore it  is  a  sign  of  ease  and  welfare  when  no  thought  is  given 
to  the  mores,  but  all  cooperate  in  them  instinctively.  The 
nations  of  southeastern  Asia  show  us  the  persistency  of  the 
mores,  when  the  element  of  stability  and  rigidity  in  them 
becomes  predominant.  Ghost  fear  and  ancestor  worship  tend  to 
establish  the  persistency  of  the  mores  by  dogmatic  authority, 
strict  taboo,  and  weighty  sanctions.  The  mores  then  lose  their 
naturalness  and  vitality.  They  are  stereotyped.  They  lose  all 
relation  to  expediency.  They  become  an  end  in  themselves. 
They  are  imposed  by  imperative  authority  without  regard  to 
interests  or  conditions  (caste,  child  marriage,  widows).  When 
any  society  falls  under  the  dominion  of  this  disease  in  the 
mores  it  must  disintegrate  before  it  cart  live  again.  In  thai 
diseased  state  of  the  mores  all  learning  consists  in  committing 
to  memory  the  words  of  the  sages  of  the  past  who  established 
the  formulas  of  the  mores. 


OVERCOMING    THE    POWER    OF    TRADITION 
AND  HABIT  1 

In  the  business  world,  as  in  all  occupations  involving  human 
beings,  to  illustrate  the  need  of  selected  habits  and  adaptive 
variability  in  a  field  too  often  overlooked,  the  manner  in  which 
men  are  treated  largely  determines  the  success  of  manager  or 
foreman.  Certain  methods  have  been  acquired  from  the  en- 
vironment, education,  or  training,  and  they  are  followed.  They 
secure  results  but  perhaps  not  the  best.  Yet  these  managers 
know  no  other  way.  The  Filene  Cooperative  Association  of 
Boston  is  an  instance  of  the  reversal  of  traditional  business 
habits.  The  William  Filene's  Sons'  Company  decided  to  give 
the  men  and  women  behind  the  counter  of  their  department 
store  a  voice  in  shaping  the  policies  of  the  company.  The  asso- 

1  Edgar  James  Swift.  Psychology  and  the  Day's  Work.  p.  102-4, 
106-8.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.  New  York.  1918. 


40  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

elation,  composed  of  members  of  the  firm  and  all  employees, 
may  initiate  or  amend  any  rule  that  affects  the  efficiency  of  em- 
ployees. The  decision,  passed  by  the  council,  may  be  vetoed  by 
the  management,  but  if  after  such  a  veto  the  association  again 
passes  it  over  the  veto,  by  a  two-thirds  vote,  the  decision  of  the 
association  is  final.  The  plan  made  a  sudden  break  from 
habitual  business  methods,  yet  it  succeeded.  A  single  instance 
will  show  how  admirably  and  reasonably  the  employees  have 
responded.  "The  question  for  vote  was  whether  the  store 
should  be  closed  all  day  Saturday,  June  18,  the  day  preceding 
Bunker  Hill  Day,  a  state  holiday.  If  this  were  done  it  would 
give  the  employees  a  three-day  holiday.  .  .  Agitation  had  been 
quite  intense  during  the  days  preceding  the  meeting,  for  the 
employees  naturally  were  interested  in  having  an  additional 
day's  rest  with  pay;  the  meeting  was  to  hear  both  sides  of  the 
question  and  to  decide.  After  those  in  favor  of  closing  had 
made  their  plea,  those  opposed  brought  out  an  argument  few 
had  considered,  the  fact  that  conditions  were  not  analogous.  It 
was  pointed  out  that  a  Saturday  in  the  middle  of  June  was  much 
more  valuable  and  costly  to  lose  than  one  in  July,  that  it  was 
the  last  Saturday  before  the  bulk  of  the  school  graduations 
and  that  much  more  business  would  in  all  probability  be  lost. 
When  the  vote  was  taken  the  employees  voted  by  an  over- 
whelming majority  not  to  have  the  extra  holiday.  .  .  The  firm 
considers"  (the  association)  "worth  many  times  what  it  has 
cost  them  in  their  time  and  money.  It  is  no  longer  an  experi- 
ment ;  it  is  a  fact,  and  it  has  made  the  interests  of  employer  and 
employee  harmonize." 

These  practical  results  from  the  methods  of  the  Filene  Co- 
operative Association  are  additional  proof  of  the  expediency 
of  selected  habits.  Observation  shows  that  it  is  not  only  in- 
efficient but  also  unnecessary  to  settle  down  into  the  line  of  least 
resistance  and  adopt  habits  of  ease  or  tradition.  Reservoirs  of 
energy  commonly  unused  reveal  themselves  in  various  ways.  In 
physical  endurance,  for  example,  it  is  well  known  that  at  a  cer- 
tain point  fatigue  ensues.  Then,  if  we  persevere,  we  overcome 
the  resistance  and  get  our  "second  wind."  We  feel  more  vig- 
orous than  before  and  push  on  to  a  new  achievement,  perhaps 
breaking  the  record.  Under  such  circumstances  we  have  clearly 
tapped  a  new  supply  of  energy,  usually  concealed  by  the  first 
appearance  of  ennui  and  fatigue.  "Mental  activity,"  James  once 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  .41 

said,  "shows  the  phenomenon  as  well  as  physical,  and  in  excep- 
tional cases  we  may  find,  beyond  the  very  extremity  of  fatigue- 
distress,  amounts  of  ease  and  power  that  we  never  dreamed  our- 
selves to  own,  sources  of  strength  habitually  not  tapped  at  all, 
because  habitually  we  never  push  through  the  obstruction,  never 
pass  those  early  critical  points."  Evidence  of  this  is  seen  in 
the  achievements  occasionally  observed  in  men  suddenly  placed 
in  positions  of  great  responsibility.  The  demand  on  their  ability 
is  worth  their  best  effort  and  they  rise  to  the  emergency.  "I 
did  not  know  that  it  was  in  him,"  is  our  acknowledgement  of 
his  bursting  through  the  barrier.  It  was  not  in  him  until  he 
broke  with  his  old  habits  of  adaptation  to  an  inferior  level  of 
accomplishment.  .  . 

Viewed  from  another  angle,  habit  has  acquired  immense 
significance  in  the  last  few  years  because  of  the  greater  acceler- 
ation with  which  changes  come  and  go.  Today  a  man's  success 
in  the  business  and  professional  world  depends  upon  rapid  adap- 
tation to  varying  conditions.  Fifty  years  ago  business  methods 
were  settled.  A  young  man  learned  a  trade,  entered  his 
father's  store,  spent  a  year  "reading"  law,  or  studied  medicine 
with  a  physician,  and  was  quite  sure  of  satisfactory  competence. 
Business  methods  were  static,  and  scientific  knowledge  did  not 
go  forward  with  leaps  and  bounds.  Today  everything  is  altered. 
Change,  rapid  change,  is  the  conspicuous  fact  in  all  occupations; 
and  this  reveals  new  meaning  in  the  utility  of  habit. 

"The  fundamental  limitation  of  the  majority  of  men,  from 
the  standpoint  of  availability  for  promotion,"  said  the  manager 
of  a  large  manufacturing  company  recently,  "consists  in  lack  of 
capacity  to  adjust  themselves  to  new  requirements.  .  .  I  find 
very  few  individuals  making  any  effort  to  think  out  better  ways 
of  doing  things.  .  .  We  need,  at  the  present  time,  four  or  five 
subordinate  chiefs  in  various  parts  of  the  factory,  and  I  can 
fill  none  of  them  satisfactorily  from  material  in  hand."  Yet  this 
"material"  consists  of  over  a  thousand  men.  Evidently,  habits 
of  doing  things,  of  reacting  to  situations,  reaches  far  into  suc- 
cess and  failure. 

In  both  physical  and  mental  activity  change  reduces  to  an 
"alteration  of  habits;  and  habit,  we  have  found,  is  concerned 
with  nervous  impulses  and  with  the  activity  of  nerve-centers. 
The  function  of  the  nervous  system  is  to  coordinate  and  unify 
movements  so  as  to  adapt  them  to  the  needs  of  the  individual. 


42  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

In  the  lower  animals  this  coordination  has  been,  to  a  large  ex- 
tent, "set"  in  instinctive  actions.  In  man  the  same  tendency 
exists  for  actions  to  become  "fixed."  We  then  call  them  reflex. 
There  is  always  a  selection  of  movements,  but  this  selection 
is  rarely  conscious.  In  the  more  delicate  movements  it  is  never 
conscious.  The  question  then  arises,  how  is  the  selection  made? 
The  determining  force  is  always  environmental  necessity. 
Among  the  lower  animals  it  is  the  requirements  of  survival — a 
relentlessly  compelling  force — and  in  man  it  is  also  the  demands 
of  the  situation.  Success  in  the  business  or  profession  in  which 
one  is  engaged  is  the  remote  incentive.  This,  of  course,  creates 
immediate  motives  in  the  various  details  of  the  work.  Ob- 
viously, unpleasant  consequences  of  certain  actions  will  cause 
the  selection  of  others.  But,  as  was  said  before,  there  is  rarely 
a  definite  standard  of  success.  Consequently,  approximately 
successful  actions  and  methods  are  selected,  and  soon  they  be- 
come fixed  habits.  A  careless  paper-hanger  makes  poor  work- 
men of  his  apprentices,  because,  if  the  employer  is  satisfied,  the 
consequences  of  indifferent  workmanship  are  not  obviously  un- 
favorable. Habits  cease  to  change  and  to  become  more  efficient 
when  no  practical  motive  compels  improvement;  and  with  hu- 
man beings  improvement  leading  to  more  successful  adaptation 
to  conditions  and  situations  has  largely  supplanted  the  require- 
ments of  mere  survival  as  a  driving  force. 


WHAT  THE  WORKER  EXPECTS  OF  MANAGE- 
MENT x 

The  point  to  be  kept  clearly  in  mind  in  thinking  about  indus- 
trial problems  requiring  current  action  is  that  we  are  in  the 
regime  of  capitalistic  industry,  in  which  managers  are  clearly 
charged  with  responsibility  for  vision  and  leadership,  and  that 
for  all  practical  purposes,  to  us,  that  regime" is  not  likely  to  be 
fundamentally  changed,  and  the  accompanying  managerial 
responsibilities  modified;  or  at  any  rate  modified  only  toward 
still  greater  responsibilities.  There  is  a  fringe  of  managers 
who  are  thoroughly  autocratic  in  mental  attitude,  and  who 
would  resort  to  extreme  measures  of  discipline  if  the  workers 

1HarIow  S.  Persons.  Selling  Production  to  the  Management.  Annals 
of  the  American  Academy.  September,  1920.  p.  134-5. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  43 

could  not  be  content  with  crystallized  relations  and  were 
insistent  in  their  strivings  to  express  a  desire  for  change;  and 
there  is  a  compensating  fringe  of  workers  who  demand  radical 
changes  in  the  social  and  industrial  structure,  and  strive,  some 
of  them  destructively,  to  achieve  their  ideals;  but  neither  of 
these  represent  the  great  directive  force  in  industry.  They  are 
a  profound  influence  in  making  others  take  thought,  but  the 
actual  course  of  step-by-step  industrial  development  will  be 
determined  by  cooperation  of  the  moderate  workers,  the  latter 
asking  for  progressive  improvement  and  the  former  desirous 
to  assume  leadership  in  finding  the  improvement  that  is  really 
mutually  progressive.  The  demand  for  improvement  by  the 
great  body  of  moderate  workers  constitutes  a  challenge  to  man- 
agement; a  challenge  to  display  vision,  initiative  and  leadership. 

Production  a  Problem  of  Progressive  Management 

Therefore,  it  should  be  kept  clearly  and  forcibly  in  mind 
that  the  pressing  problem  of  production  is  primarily  a  problem 
of  management;  and  in  times  of  confusion  and  of  change  more 
than  ever  a  problem  of  the  management,  calling  for  constructive 
plans  and  leadership  in  winning  acceptance  of  these  plans  and  in 
giving  them  effect. 

It  is  not  abnormal  for  the  average  manager  to  meet  this 
challenge  with  reluctance.  It  is  normal  for  him  to  simplify  his 
problem  and,  if  he  has  once  constructed  a  formula  for  securing 
production  under  more  or  less  familiar  conditions,  to  hesitate 
to  attack  the  problem  of  working  out  new  production  formulas 
involving,  to  him,  new  variables.  It  is  much  easier  and  presents 
apparently  less  risk  for  him  to  ask  that  all  concerned  work 
harder  individually  in  accordance  with  present  formulas,  and 
thereby  secure  the  needed  production.  There  is  no  question  but 
that  greater  individual  physical  effort  is  possible  and  that  it 
would  secure  greater  production.  But  it  is  just  as  normal  and 
reasonable  for  the  individual  worker  to  meet  that  challenge 
with  greater  reluctance  than  the  manager  meets  the  other 
challenge,  especially  if  the  individual  believes  that  the  problem 
can  be  met  by  better  management.  He  feels  that  it  is  the 
function  of  management  not  to  work  out  a  status  quo  in  produc- 
tion methods  but  to  strive  for  increasing  efficient  methods—- 
increasingly efficient  because  of  better  coordinations  and  not 
because  of  greater  individual  exertion.  The  war  proved  that  in 


44  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

extraordinary  emergency  the  individual  will  give  himself  to  the 
limit,  and  proved  that  that  method  does  secure  production;  but 
it  proved  also  that  only  extraordinary  emergency  will  inspire  to 
such  effort.  The  individual  worker  now  believes  that  the  extra- 
ordinary situation  is  past  and  that  it  is  up  to  managers  to 
secure  the  same  results.  He  believes  that  it  is  a  function  of 
management  to  so  coordinate  the  elements  and  to  so  manage 
that  he  will  inspire  in  each  individual  an  unconscious  impulse 
to  a  maximum  effort  (consistent  with  well-being)  which  he 
cannot  resist.  He  insists  that  to  have  visions,  try  experiments 
and  to  assume  risks  is  a  phase  of  the  function  known  as  man- 
agement. Is  it  not,  after  all,  the  easier  solution  of  the  problem 
for  the  manager  to  will  intellectual  effort  on  his  part  to  con- 
struct better  production  formulas,  than  for  him  to  attempt  to 
drive  the  mass  to  greater  individual  effort,  or  to  modify  the 
behavioristic  psychology  of  a  crowd  which  charges  him  with 
responsibility? 


THE  LEVELS  OF  INTELLIGENCE  l 

The  significance  of  these  results  will  be  appreciated  when 
we  consider  that  one  million  seven  hundred  thousand  drafted 
men  in  the  army  may  be  accepted  as  a  fair  sample  of  the 
population  of  the  United  States.  Whatever  we  may  determine 
in  regard  to  that  group  of  men  we  shall  probably  find  applicable 
to  the  country  as  a  whole.  It  is  thus  probable  that  we  can  find 
in  these  results,  suggestions  and  conclusions  of  profound  im- 
portance as  bearing  upon  our  social  problems  and  social  well 
being.  It  will  be  recalled  that  the  army  tests  were,  for  the 
most  part,  group  tests ;  that  is,  the  men  were  examined  in  groups 
of  fifty  to  three  hundred.  Moreover,  the  scale  used  was 
essentially  a  point  scale,  that  is  to  say  in  what  is  known  as  the 
Alpha  test  two  hundred  twelve  points  were  possibly  obtain- 
able. 

We  quote  from  the  official  report: 

"Explanation  of  Letter  Ratings.  The  rating  a  man  earns 
furnishes  a  fairly  reliable  index  of  his  ability  to  learn,  to  think 
quickly  and  accurately,  to  analyze  a  situation,  to  maintain  a 

1  Henry  Herbert  Goddard.  Human  Efficiency  and  Levels  of  Intelli- 
gence, p.  23-7,  34-7,  127-8.  Princeton  University  Press.  Princeton.  1920. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  45 

state  of  mental  alertness,  and  to  comprehend  and  follow  instruc- 
tions. The  score  is  little  influenced  by  schooling.  Some  of 
the  highest  records  have  been  made  by  men  who  had  not  com- 
pleted the  eighth  grade.  The  meaning  of  the  letter  ratings  is 
as  follows: 

"A.  Very  Superior  Intelligence.  This  grade  is  ordinarily 
earned  by  only  four  or  five  per  cent  of  a  draft  quota.  The  'A' 
group  is  composed  of  men  of  marked  intellectuality.  'A'  men 
are  of  high  officer  type  when  they  are  also  endowed  with  leader- 
ship and  other  necessary  qualities. 

"B.  Superior  Intelligence.  'B'  intelligence  is  superior,  but 
less  exceptional  than  that  represented  by  'A.'  The  rating  'B' 
is  obtained  by  eight  to  ten  soldiers  out  of  a  hundred.  The 
group  contains  many  men  of  the  commissioned  officer  type  and 
a  large  amount  of  non-commissioned  officer  material. 

"C  plus.  High  Average  Intelligence.  This  group  includes 
about  fifteen  to  eighteen  per  cent  of  all  soldiers  and  contains 
a  large  amount  of  non-commissioned  officer  material  with  occa- 
sionally a  man  whose  leadership  and  power  to  command  fit  him 
for  commissioned  rank. 

"C.  Average  Intelligence.  Includes  about  twenty-five  per 
cent  of  soldiers.  Excellent  private  type  with  a  certain  amount 
of  fair  non-commissioned  officer  material. 

"C  minus.  Low  Average  Intelligence.  Includes  about 
twenty  per  cent.  While  below  average  in  intelligence  'C — '  men 
are  usually  good  privates  and  satisfactory  in  work  of  routine 
nature. 

"D.  Inferior  Intelligence.  Includes  about  fifteen  per  cent  of 
soldiers.  'D'  men  are  likely  to  be  fair  soldiers,  but  are  usually 
slow  in  learning  and  rarely  go  above  the  rank  of  private.  They 
are  short  on  initiative  and  so  require  more  than  the  usual 
amount  of  supervision.  Many  of  them  are  illiterate  or  foreign. 

"D  minus  and  E.  Very  Inferior  Intelligence.  This  group 
is  divided  into  two  classes  (i)  'D — '  men,  who  are  very  inferior 
in  intelligence  but  are  considered  fit  for  regular  service;  and 
(2)  'E'  men,  those  whose  mental  inferiority  justifies  their  rec- 
ommendation for  Development  Battalion,  special  service  organi- 
zation, rejection,  or  discharge.  The  majority  of  'D — '  and  'E' 
men  are  below  ten  years  in  'mental  age.' 

"The  immense  contrast  between  'A'  an4  'D— '  intelligence  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  men  of  'A'  intelligence  have  the  ability 


46  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

to  make  a  superior  record  in  college  or  university,  while  'D— 
men  are  of  such  inferior  mentality  that  they  are  rarely  able  to 
go  beyond  the  third  or  fourth  grade  of  the  elementary  school, 
however  long  they  attend.  In  fact,  most  'D — '  and  'E'  men  are 
below  the  'mental  age'  of  ten  years  and  at  best  are  on  the  border- 
line of  mental  deficiency.  Many  of  them  are  of  the  moron 
grade  of  feeble-mindedness.  'B'  intelligence  is  capable  of  making 
an  average  record  in  college,  'C+'  intelligence  can  not  do  so 
well,  while  mentality  of  the  'C'  grade  is  rarely  capable  of  finish- 
ing a  high  school  course." 

It  is  possible  to  make  212  points  in  the  tests,  and  the  number 
of  points  for  each  letter  rating  are  as  follows: 

D  minus,  o  to  14;  D,  15-24;  C  minus,  25-44;  C,  45-74;  C  plus, 
75-104;  B,  105-134;  A,  135-212.  .  . 

Efficiency 

The  facts  and  considerations  set  forth  in  the  previous  chap- 
ter enable  us  to  restate  in  a  new  way  the  condition  in  which  we 
find  ourselves  in  relation  to  the  problem  of  social  efficiency. 

Our  army  abroad  had  a  well  earned  reputation  for  efficiency 
and  no  small  part  of  the  result  may  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that 
the  lowest  ten  per  cent  in  intelligence  were  not  sent  overseas  and 
that  eighty-three  per  cent  of  the  officers  came  from  the  "A"  and 
"B"  classes — superior  and  very  superior  intelligence. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  if  a  similar  condition  prevailed 
in  our  social  groups  a  corresponding  gain  in  efficiency  would 
result.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  not  only  are  the  "lowest  ten  per 
cent"  with  us,  but  they  are  unrecognized  and  hence  are  often 
mistaken  for  intelligent  people  and  placed  in  responsible  posi- 
tions. 

It  is  a  maxim  in  engineering  that  a  bridge  is  not  stronger 
than  its  weakest  part.  The  same  is  largely  true  of  society.  It 
must  be  understood  however,  that  weakness  is  not  determined 
by  the  size  of  the  part  but  by  the  relation  the  size  or  strength 
of  the  part  bears  to  the  work  it  has  to  do.  The  big  steel  girder 
may  be  the  weak  part  while  the  small  bolt  may  be  capable  of 
bearing  all  the  strain  that  is  required  of  it. 

Similarly,  the  efficiency  of  the  human  group  is  not  so  much 
a  question  of  the  absolute  numbers  of  persons  of  high  and  low 
intelligence  as  it  is  whether  each  grade  of  intelligence  is  assigned 
a  part,  in  the  whole  organization,  that  is  within  its  capacity.  An 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  47 

intelligent  man  who  undertakes  work  requiring  even  higher  in- 
telligence, may  be  as  inefficient  as  the  imbecile  who  undertakes 
work  that  only  a  moron  can  do. 

Let  us  again  look  at  our  chart  showing  the  distribution  of 
the  people  according  to  mentality.  I  suppose  no  one  will  deny 
that  this  distribution  based  on  the  examination  of  a  million, 
seven  hundred  thousand  drafted  men,  may  be  applied  to  the 
entire  population  of  the  United  States,  not  to  take  any  larger 
group.  Surely  we  cannot  say  that  the  drafted  army  was  either 
more  or  less  intelligent  than  those  who  made  up  the  rest  of  the 
population.  They  must  certainly  be  a  fair  sample  of  the  whole. 

Let  us  see  what  these  percentages  would  give  us.  On  the 
basis  of  a  hundred  million  population,  we  have  four  and  one- 
half  million  people  of  "A"  intelligence,  nine  millions  of  "B" 
grade,  sixteen  and  one-half  of  "C  plus,"  twenty-five  of  "C," 
twenty  of  "C  minus,"  fifteen  of  "D"  and  ten  million  of  "D 
minus"  and  "E"  mentality. 

These  figures  are  beyond  human  comprehension  and  hence 
are  of  no  use  except  for  comparison  and  illustration. 

From  the  standpoint  of  efficiency  the  fundamental  question 
is  this :  Does  the  work  of  the  country  require  these  numbers  of 
people  of  the  various  grades?  Is  there  for  example,  just  work 
enough  requiring  thirteen^iourteen  year  intelligence  to  keep 
twenty-five  million  people  busy?  Is  there  enough  work  requir- 
ing "D"  intelligence  to  keep  fifteen  million  people  busy? 

Of  course  we  have  no  answer.  No  attempt  has  ever  been 
made  to  ascertain  what  grade  of  intelligence  is  required  for 
any  of  the  multitude  of  occupations.  That  is  the  next  step,  that 
follows  logically  from  the  discovery  of  mental  levels.  More- 
over, it  is  not  a  difficult  task,  once  we  set  ourselves  about  it. 

If  we  assume  that  the  foregoing  question  is  to  be  answered 
in  the  affirmative,  we  are  at  once  relieved  of  one  tremendous 
problem.  The  supply  equals  the  demand  at  least !  We  are  how- 
ever, confronted  with  another  question  which  exposes  a  condi- 
tion not  so  easy  of  adjustment.  Are  all  the  "C"  people  doing 
"C"  work,  "A"  men  "A"  work,  etc?  We  know  they  are  not. 

Manifestly  here  is  an  enormous  loss  of  efficiency.  Every 
time  a  "B"  man  employs  himself  doing  "C"  work  society  is  los- 
ing. Every  time  a  "C"  man  attempts  to  do  "B"  work  he  fails, 
and  again  society  loses. 

There  are  of  course  many  other  factors  that  determine— and 


48  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

rightly  so— what  work  a  man  does.     Some  of  these  we  shall 
consider  later. 

An  ideally  efficient  society  then  would  be  made  up  of  the 
right  proportion  of  individuals  to  do  all  the  different  types  of 
work  that  are  to  be  done  and  each  man  doing  the  work  for 
which  he  is  just  capable.  .  .  In  this  course  we  have  tried  to  ex- 
press our  conviction  that  every  human  being  reaches  at  some 
time  a  level  of  intelligence  beyond  which  he  never  goes;  that 
these  levels  range  from  the  lowest  or  idiotic,  to  the  highest  level 
of  genius.  We  have  indicated  without  going  into  great  detail 
that  the  number  of  people  of  relatively  low  intelligence  is  vastly 
greater  than  is  generally  appreciated  and  that  this  mass  of  low 
level  intelligence  is  an  enormous  menace  to  democracy  unless 
it  is  recognized  and  properly  treated.  We  have  tried  to  show 
that  the  social  efficiency  of  a  group  of  human  beings  depends 
upon  recognizing  the  mental  limitations  of  each  one  and  of  so 
organizing  society  that  each  person  has  work  to  do  that  is  within 
his  mental  capacity  and  at  the  same  time  calls  for  all  the  ability 
that  he  possesses.  .  .  We  have  pointed  out  that  the  intelligent 
group  must  do  the  planning  and  organizing  for  the  mass,  that 
our  whole  attitude  toward  lower  grades  of  intelligence  must  be 
philanthropic;  not  the  hit  and  miss  philanthropy  with  which  we 
are  all  too  familiar  but  the  philanthropy  based  upon  an  intel- 
ligent understanding  of  the  mental  capacity  of  each  individual. 
And  finally  we  have  attempted  to  show  that  democracy  is  not 
impossible  even  in  a  group  with  a  large  mass  of  people  of  rela- 
tively low  mentality,  provided  that  there  is  a  sufficiently  large 
group  of  people  of  high  intelligence  to  control  the  situation ;  and 
provided  further,  that  that  group  has  the  right  attitude  toward 
those  of  less  intelligence.  That  that  attitude  is  best  expressed 
by  the  one  desire  to  make  all  people  happy;  which  does  not 
mean,  as  socialism  is  too  apt  to  claim,  that  all  people  are  to  be 
treated  alike.  Children  are  not  to  be  made  happy  by  placing 
them  in  the  same  level  as  adults.  Even  in  democracy  where 
every  person  has  the  right  to  vote  for  those  who  shall  rule  him, 
the  masses  will  vote  for  the  best  and  most  intelligent  if  they  are 
made  to  feel  that  these  same  intelligent  people  have  the  welfare 
of  the  masses  at  heart.  The  only  way  to  demonstrate  that,  is  for 
the  intelligent  to  understand  the  mental  levels  of  the  unintel- 
ligent, or  those  of  low  intelligence,  and  to  so  organize  the  work 
of  the  world  that  every  man  is  doing  such  work  and  bearing 
such  responsibility  as  his  mental  level  warrants. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  49 

SUCCESSFUL     APPLICATIONS     OF     PSYCHO- 
LOGICAL PRINCIPLES  l 

We  do  not  have  to  theorize  as  to  what  a  modern  plant  and 
its  management  should  stand  for.  The  facts  are  ready  to  hand. 
Here  and  there  throughout  the  country,  examples  of  sound  and 
successful  practice  in  industrial  relations  within  a  plant  can 
be  observed  with  profit  to  the  observer.  And  the  number  of 
such  examples  is  growing  day  by  day. 

Take  two  such  well-known  instances  of  organized  right  re- 
lations as  the  system  followed  by  Hart,  Schaffner  and  Marx  and 
the  International  Harvester  Company.  In  the  former  case, 
there  has  been  peace  and  profitable  production  for  years  in  spite 
of  conditions  in  the  garment  industry  which  constantly  work 
against  stability.  In  the  second  instance,  the  Harvester  people, 
after  a  long  and  well-prepared  campaign,  recently  put  into  oper- 
ation a  plan  for  industrial  representation  of  its  employees 
among  the  twenty  plants  based  on  the  most  enlightened  prin- 
ciples of  labor  relationships. 

The  truth  is  that  managers  and  men  have,  in  reality,  a  com- 
mon goal  before  them.  But  they  have  been  at  odds  as  to  the 
best  way  of  reaching  that  goal.  And  because  they  have  been 
differing  in  this  way,  they  have  naturally  lost  sight  of  the  big 
fact  that  it  was  a  common  goal  which  both  were  really  seeking. 

What  is  that  goal?  It  is  to  get  the  maximum  satisfaction 
and  return  from  the  work.  Anxiety,  uncertainty,  discontent — 
these  things  are  the  chief  foes  of  fitness.  Efficiency,  we  must 
remind  ourselves  over  and  over  again,  is  more  of  a  psycholog- 
ical than  it  is  a  mechanical  result. 

The  management  which  recognizes  this  axiom  holds  the  key 
to  unlimited  success.  Where  work  is  sheer  monotony  and  noth- 
ing is  done  to  offset  it,  where  surroundings  pull  down  health  and 
strength,  or  where  relationships  are  such  that  no  man  feels  that 
he  has  any  stake  in  the  plant  and  that  the  scrap-heap  is  ahead 
of  him  so  far  as  any  concern  on  the  part  of  the  management  is 
felt;  in  all  these  circumstances  we  have  the  fertile  soil  for  ill 
will  and  poor  work.  There  can  be  no  real  organization  here. 
Management  has  sometimes  lost  sight  of  the  goal  which  it 

1  A.  Lincoln  Filene.  The  Key  to  Successful  Industrial  Management. 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  September,  1919.  p.  8-n. 


50  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

has  in  common  with  labor.  It  has  been  blinded  perhaps  by  a 
narrow  point  of  view,  a  rigid  devotion  to  rule  of  thumb,  and 
indifference  to  the  greatest  factor  in  production — the  human 
factor.  Income  without  satisfaction  in  work  means  labor 
instability,  unrest  and  lowered  output.  And  satisfaction  in  work 
is  hardly  possible  without  recognition  by  management  of  the 
human  elements  involved.  Like  all  other  human  beings,  the 
worker  is  a  bundle  of  instincts.  He  wants  to  create,  to  possess, 
to  gain  power,  to  have  his  work  and  merit  properly  recognized, 
to  play,  to  protect  himself  and  his  own.  He  wants  to  learn  new 
things,  to  vary  his  occupation  so  that  it  does  not  get  on  his 
nerves.  He  wants  the  satisfactions  which  make  life  worth  living. 

Now  the  basic  conditions  for  the  output  to  which  both  labor 
and  capital  are  committed  and  out  of  which  alone  they  can 
draw  their  upkeep  are  those  which  make  the  best  return  possible 
consistent  with  business  soundness.  Wages  should  be  the  high-' 
est  and  not  the  lowest  that  conditions  warrant.  ^There  should  be 
give  and  take  on  both  sides.  ^The  men  should  feel  that  they 
never  ask  ior  justice  or  fair  dealing — these  should  come  to  them 
as  a  matter  of  course,  because  the  business  is  so  organized  that 
it  could  not  do  otherwise. 

Employment  should  cease  to  be  a  gamble  and  should  hold 
out  a  future  for  those  who  mean  to  stay  and  make  goodTj  This 
means  that  the  best  thought  of  the  employer  must  be  given  to 
eliminating  the  evils  of  irregular  employment,  and  to  offering 
incentives  which  help  make  labor  contented  and  stable.  Some 
employers  are  reducing  tJfe  seasonal  character  of  their  business 
by  inducing  their  customers  to  order  goods  enough  in  advance 
so  as  to  spread  production  over  a  longer  period;  they  are  carry- 
ing on  campaigns  for  the  standardization  of  styles  so  as  to  be 
able  to  carry  on  production  throughout  the  year;  they  are  con- 
stantly studying  methods  of  producing  different  lines  of  goods 
so  that  in  slack  periods  they  may  be  able  to  keep  their  working 
forces  profitably  employed. 

Among  other  methods  of  changing  employment  from  an 
affair  of  chance  to  a  carefully  planned  function  of  management 
we  find  the  increasing  interest  and  attention  given  to  the  prob- 
lems of  hiring,  placing,  training  and  retaining  workers  through 
well  organized  employment  departments  in  charge  of  capable 
executives  who  are  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  problems  of 
personnel  and  employment  and  are  open-minded  on  the  many 
difficult  questions  which  confront  industry  today.  Through  the 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  51 

modern  employment  department  we  find  it  possible  to  secure  a 
better  class  of  workers,  to  place  them  more  advantageously  to 
themselves  and  to  the  management,  to  offer  workers  a  clearing 
house  for  possible  grievances  and  their  adjustment,  to  get  closer 
to  the  workers  and  their  problems.  The  expensive  turnover  of 
labor  is  more  easily  reduced  where  such  a  department  exists, 
because  it  can  study  the  reasons  for  such  turnover  in  detail  and 
point  out  the  remedies.  Instead  of  the  reckless  hiring  and  firing 
of  workers  we  find  substituted  the  careful  study  of  how  to  con- 
serve labor  so  that  it  will  pay  adequately  for  the  investment  in 
it. 

C^Tlie  contact  between  management  and  men  should  be  such 
as  to  give  all  concerned  a  feeling  of  security  in  the  motives  of 
each. 7  All  the  cards  must  be  laid  on  the  table.  \_Each  side  must 
help  the  other  with  its  viewpoint,  knowledge  and  skill.  This 
comes  only  when  frankness  and  mutuality  govern.  And  this 
frankness  and  mutuality  must  be  part  of  the  written  policy  of  the 
management,  specific,  concrete,  detailed,  so  that  all  may  know 
that  they  are  working  under  a  control  of  principles  rather  than 
of  individuals.  One  of  the  great  causei  of  industrial  unrest  has 
been  the  fundamental  misunderstanding  and  mistrust  of  one 
another  by  employer  and  employed.^]  The  modern  industrial 
plant  seeks  to  remove  this  mutual  mistrust  by  the  establishment 
of  a  clearly  defined  labor  policy  worked  out  with  the  representa- 
tives of  the  workers  in  the  plant;  such  policy  forming  the  basis 
of  the  employment  contract,  implied  in  the  conduct  of  the  em- 
ployer, or  expressly  agreed  to  in  some  form  of  collective  bar- 
gaining. 

The  newest  development  in  establishment  of  right  relations 
between  management  and  men  is  the  shop  committee  modelled 
more  or  less  on  the  plan  worked  out  in  England  by  the  Whitley 
Committee.  Already  many  employers  are  taking  advantage  of 
this  method  of  meeting  their  employees  on  common  ground  for 
discussion  and  actions  on  matters  of  mutual  interest  and  benefit. 
Such  committees,  to  be  successful,  must  be  taken  into  the  full 
confidence  of  the  employer  and  given  a  real  share  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  enterprise.  The  mistake  is  being  made  of 
labelling  some  schemes  "industrial  democracy"  when  democracy 
is  conspicuous  by  its  absence  and  the  whole  thing  is  a  shallow 
attempt  which  really  defeats  the  demands  of  the  workers  for 
participation  in  management. 

Many  people  have  to  learn,  and  not  a  few  do  so  only  after 


52  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

very  costly  and  bitter  experience,  that  it  is  better  to  be  genuine 
than  spectacular.  Workers  are  never  deceived  by  make- 
believe  industrial  relation  schemes.  They  respect  the  man  who 
is  honest,  even  though  badly  mistaken,  in  his  industrial  outlook. 
But  they  reward  all  insincerity  with  lasting  contempt,  disguised 
though  it  may  be. 

There  is  great  opportunity  ahead  for  every  business  and 
industry  to  take  steps  forward  in  bettering  relationships  within 
the  establishment.  Many  a  big  figure  in  the  management  world 
considers  it  a  high  privilege  to  have  a  hand  in  such  work.  That 
is  an  encouraging  sign  of  the  times.  There  is  no  panacea,  no 
patent  drug,  for  making  all  things  right  within  a  plant.  But 
this  may  be  safely  asserted:  the  key  to  success  in  management 
is  organized  and  sustained  effort  on  the  part  of  all  executives 
to  approach  a  condition  of  mutual  trust  and  mutual  effort 
between  the  parties  engaged  in  carrying  on  the  industries  of 
the  country. 


THE  BASIS  OF  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  1 

Given  two  establishments  in  the  same  industry,  in  the  same 
locality,  build  for  them  the  same  buildings,  equip  them  with  the 
same  machinery  and  establish  for  them  similar  methods  of 
handling  equipment  and  materials — yet,  in  the  course  of  a  short 
time,  there  will  be  a  difference  in  both  the  quality  and  the 
quantity  of  their  output.  This  difference  in  result  will  be 
caused  by  the  difference  between  the  two  in  the  quality  of  their 
v  personnel.  For  this  reason,  alone,  the  question  of  personnel 
must  ultimately  be  considered  the  real  problem  of  management. 

If  one  of  the  above  plants  were  headed  by  a  management  of 
the  ordinary  or  traditional  type  and  the  other  by  a  management 
which  fully  realized  the  importance  of  personnel  and  had 
developed  an  active  philosophy  tending  toward  the  solution  of 
the  personal  problem,  the  difference  in  practical  results  would 
be  so  great  as  to  be  unbelievable  by  the  uninitiated.  In  fact, 
this  difference  alone  would  often  spell  failure  in  the  one  case 
and  success  in  the  other. 

The  managers  of  both  plants  would  see  the  shortsightedness 

1  Richard  A.  Feiss.  Personal  Relationship  as  a  Basis  of  Scientific 
Management.  Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  May,  1916.  p.  27-56. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  53 

of  letting  buildings  and  other  equipment  run  down  for  lack  of 
upkeep  and  repair.  Both  would  see  the  value  of  and  put  into 
practice  means  for  running  the  machinery  at  the  most  efficient 
speeds  and  bringing  into  use  the  best  tools  and  the  best  method 
of  handling  material.  It  would  be  taken  for  granted  by  both 
that  anything  that  goes  to  the  improvement  and  upkeep  of  these 
things  would  be  a  necessary  expenditure  or  a  wise  investment. 
The  ordinary  management,  however,  would  not  think  of  apply- 
ing the  same  laws  of  upkeep  and  improvement  to  the  personal 
equipment. 

The  ordinary  or  unscientific  manager  believes  that  factory 
management  consists  of  the  handling  of  orders,  materials,  and 
machinery,  and  that  the  men  in  the  plant  are  a  mere  adjunct 
to  these  things — a  necessary  evil.  When  this  type  of  manager 
is  confronted  with  the  fact  that  his  organization  is  less  efficient 
than  another  he  will  lay  the  blame  on  his  employees  and  say, 
"I  haven't  the  same  kind  of  people  that  the  other  fellow  has." 
In  making  this  statement  he  will  be  absolutely  correct,  but  he 
does  not  realize  that  the  fellow  with  the  other  point  of  view 
has  developed  a  particular  kind  of  people  as  an  essential  part 
of  the  responsibility  of  management. 

The  old  type  of  management  would  at  the  best  consider 
expenditures  for  the  development  of  personnel  as  an  unneces- 
sary outlay  forced  upon  it  by  unintelligent  public  opinion,  or 
would  consider  it  a  politic  expenditure  which  would  bring  a 
certain  amount  of  cheap  advertising  at  the  expense  of  fair 
wages.  The  enlightened,  or  scientific  type  of  management  would 
consider  expenditures  of  this  kind  not  only  wise,  but  also  an 
investment  bringing  proportionately  larger  and  more  permanent 
returns  than  all  other  kinds.  Full  value  of  all  expenditures 
or  investments  for  upkeep  and  improvement  of  a  plant  can  be 
realized  only  when  sufficient  investment  of  both  time  and  money 
has  been  made  for  the  purpose  of  improvement  and  upkeep  of 
the  personal  side.  In  fact,  the  management  which  has  the 
correct  viewpoint  will  find  that  the  mechanical  and  material 
side  of  the  organization  will  be  better  developed  as  a  necessary 
incident  to  personal  development  than  it  would  be  where 'this 
point  of  view  is  reversed.  This  is  well  illustrated  in  the  Cloth- 
craft  Shops  of  The  Joseph  &  Feiss  Company,  where  this  phil- 
osophy has  been  the  basis  of  its  development  of  scientific 
management. 


54  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

Only  actual  comparison  of  the  mechanical  and  other  develop- 
ments in  this  establishment  with  those  in  the  next  best  estab- 
lishment in  the  men's  clothing  industry  would  suffice  to  prove 
this  point.  The  industry  generally  is  not  in  a  very  advanced 
state.  The  usual  type  of  management  is,  at  the  best,  only  begin- 
ning to  realize  the  existence  of  the  personal  side.  As  a  result, 
machinery  and  equipment  are  almost  universally  limited  to  a 
few  undeveloped  or  semi-developed  types,  regardless  of  whether 
or  not  they  are  most  suitable  for  the  purpose  in  the  hands  of  the 
individual  operator.  In  practically  all  these  factories  you  will 
find  only  a  few  types  of  machines,  and  these  set  up  and  equipped 
as  they  come  from  the  manufacturers  and  running  at  hap- 
hazard speeds.  Shears  and  all  other  tools  are  any  which  the 
employee  chooses  to  furnish  for  himself. 

In  the  Clothcraft  Shops,  working  from  the  personal  point  of 
view,  tools  are  not  only  developed  and  prescribed  with  regard  to 
their  suitability  for  the  purpose  of  individual  accomplishment, 
but  all  tools  are  furnished  and  maintained  by  the  management. 
Fully  fifty  per  cent  of  the  different  types  of  machines  in  use 
at  the  Clothcraft  Shops  are  not,  as  far  as  is  known,  used  in 
any  other  establishment  in  the  industry,  and  practically  every 
machine  in  use  has  been  developed  so  as  to  be  specially  adapted 
for  its  particular  purpose  in  the  hands  of  the  individual  who 
uses  it.  In  like  manner  the  proper  handling  of  materials  and 
the  installation  of  other  methods  developed  under  scientific 
management  have  been  introduced  in  this  establishment  as  neces- 
sary steps  in  the  development  of  the  highest  efficiency  of  the 
individual. 

We  believe  the  point  of  view  outlined  above  to  be  the  essence 
of  scientific  management.  Scientific  management  aims  directly 
at  increasing  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  output  of  an  organ- 
ization by  increasing  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  output  of 
the  individual  worker.  While  scientific  management  in  its  appli- 
cation must  necessarily  go  deeply  into  the  question  of  improved 
machinery  and  equipment,  and  while  this  in  itself  makes  for 
greater  output,  nevertheless,  a  machine  is  a  tool,  and,  like  any 
other  tool,  is  devised  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  individual 
to  whose  direct  and  personal  control  it  must  always  be  subject. 
The  question  of  quality,  even  in  the  case  where  highly  developed 
machinery  is  used,  is  almost  entirely  a  question  of  the  personal 
element.  As  for  the  question  of  quantity,  the  real  measure  of 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  55 

accomplishment  is  not  output  per  machine  or  per  tool,  but  out- 
put per  man. 

Scientific  management  will  not  have  completed  its  mission 
when  it  has  determined  in  each  industry  the  best  method  of 
handling  materials  and  equipment  in  relation  to  workers,  but 
when  it  has  determined  also  the  principles  which  underly  correct 
methods  of  handling  men.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to 
show  what  is  being  done  from  this  point  of  view  at  the  Cloth- 
craft  Shops  with  the  purpose  of  showing  what  a  little  effort  in 
the  right  direction  can  accomplish.  A  further  purpose  of  this 
paper  is  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  those  interested  in  the 
future  of  scientific  management  the  degree  to  which  manage- 
ment is,  in  the  final  analysis,  the  handling  of  men  and  to 
emphasize  that  scientific  management  is  scientific  only  in  so  far 
as  it  recognizes  this  fact.  .  . 

One  of  the  most  important  functions  of  the  employment  and 
service  department  is  to  develop  organization  spirit  and  free 
expression  of  personal  and  public  opinion.  It  forms  a  direct  ^ 
channel  of  expression  from  its  source  to  the  ear  of  the  manage- 
ment. In  fact,  the  chief  purpose  of  a  scientifically  organized 
department  is  nothing  more  than  the  development  of  that 
intimate  personal  contact  so  necessary  to  management.  At  the 
Clothcraft  Shops  about  one-fifth  of  the  total  number  of  em- 
ployees come  daily  in  contact  with  the  employment  and  service 
department.  All  cases  where  direct  contact  with  the  manage- 
ment would  be  beneficial  are  immediately  referred  to  it.  This 
requires  constant  daily  contact  of  the  management  with  the 
department,  and  brings  it  into  intimate  relationship  with  a  great 
many  more  cases  than  would  be  possible  in  the  average  organiza- 
tion of  much  smaller  size.  Wherever  the  management  assumes 
the  policy  of  the  closed  door,  this  department  may  well  be 
shut  down. 

Results  cannot  be  accomplished  in  the  spirit  of  charity,  but  ' 
must  emanate  entirely  from  a  sense  of  justice.  It  must  be 
understood  that  work  along  the  lines  described  above  can  never 
take  the  place  of  wages.  Such  work  must  have  as  a  reason 
for  its  existence  not  only  increased  efficiency,  but  the  increased 
reward  to  which  increased  efficiency  is  entitled.  Figure  6  is  a 
chart  showing  the  progress  of  the  Clothcraft  Shops  in  respect 
to  wages  and  efficiency  for  June,  1910,  to  January,  1915.  This 
shows  during  this  period  an  increase  in  production  of  forty-two 


56  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

per  cent;  an  increase  in  the  average  individual  hourly  wages 
of  forty-five  per  cent,  weekly  wages  thirty-seven  per  cent;  and 
a  decrease  in  total  manufacturing  cost  of  about  ten  per  cent. 
During  this  period  the  weekly  working  schedule  was  reduced 
from  fifty-four  to  forty-eight  hours. 

It  is  our  belief  that  results,  such  as  these,  are  obtainable 
only  when  scientific  management  is  scientifically  applied.  Scien- 
tific management  will  live  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  it  has 
faced  the  problem  squarely  and  recognizes  that  the  science  of 
management  is  the  science  of  handling  men. 

That  scientific  management  is  a  solution  of  the  industrial 
problems  involving  all  the  ethics  of  human  relationship  was 
recognized  by  no  one  so  well  as  the  father  of  scientific  manage- 
ment himself.  For  proof  we  need  only  remember  the  four 
principles  of  scientific  management1  as  propounded  by  Mr. 
Taylor,  and  his  well-known  words  that  the  "Product  of  a  factory 
is  not  materials,  but  men."  The  most  hopeful  sign  of  the  times 
is  the  awakening  public  conscience  in  regard  to  the  elements  of 
success.  The  measure  of  success  is  no  longer  how  much  you 
make,  but  how  you  make  it. 

1  a.  The  development  of  a  true  science,  b.  The  scientific  selection  ol 
the  workman,  c.  His  scientific  education  and  development,  d.  Intimate 
friendly  cooperation  between  the  management  and  men. 


III.  BALKED  INSTINCTS  THE  BASIS  OF 
INDUSTRIAL  DISORDERS 

The  reason  why  the  instinctive  nature  of  workers  so  often 
leads  to  industrial  disorders  is  because  certain  of  their  most 
powerful  instincts  are  thwarted  by  their  industrial  environment. 
When  the  instinct  of  workmanship  is  suppressed  through  monot- 
onous and  haphazard  working  conditions;  when  the  instinct  of 
self-assertiveness  is  denied  expression  because  of  arbitrary 
methods  of  management;  when  the  herd  instinct  is  threatened 
by  plans  for  undermining  the  unity  of  groups  of  workers;  and 
when  other  instincts  are  balked  in  similar  ways,  the  basic  psycho- 
logical energies  of  the  worker -are  thwarted.  The  results  are 
found  in  unrest,  restriction  of  production,  ill-will,  radicalism, 
inefficiency,  unhappiness  and  disloyalty.  These  are  the  outlets 
for  the  energies  within  balked  instincts. 

Business  executives  who  have  applied  psychological  principles 
to  the  solution  of  such  problems  have  found  that  the  repression 
of  the  basic  instincts  of  the  workers  is  not  only  unnecessary  but 
is  one  of  the  most  costly,  blind  and  dangerous  phenomena  of 
present  day  industry.  All  of  these  instinctive  energies  are 
capable  of  either  good  or  bad  expression,  and  if  the  good 
expression  is  not  provided  for  in  the  day's  work,  the  bad  expres- 
sion is  the  natural  alternative.  Balked  instincts  insure  pug- 
nacity, uneasiness,  discontent,  strikes,  agitation,  sabotage  and  the 
whole  retinue  of  industrial  disorders. 


A  COMPREHENSIVE  DESCRIPTION  OF  UNDER- 
LYING CAUSES1 

The  instincts  and  their  emotions,  coupled  with  the  obedient 
body,  lay  down  in  scientific  and  exact  description  the  motives 
which  must  and  will  determine  human  conduct.  If  a  physical 

1  Carleton  H.  Parker.  The  Casual  Laborer  and  Other  Essays,  p.  161, 
162,  164.  Harcourt,  Brace  and  Howe.  New  York.  1920. 


58  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

environment  set  itself  against  the  expression  of  these  instinct 
motives,  the  human  organism  is  fully  and  efficiently  prepared 
for  a  tenacious  and  destructive  revolt  against  this  environment; 
and  if  the  antagonism  persist,  the  organism  is  ready  to  destroy 
itself  and  disappear  as  a  species  if  it  fail  of  a  psychical  mutation 
which  would  make  the  perverted  order  endurable. 

Even  if  labor-class  children  evade  those  repressive  deport- 
ment traditions  that  characterize  the  life  of  the  middle-class 
young,  at  a  later  date  in  the  life  of  these  working-class  members 
certain  powerful  forces  in  their  environment,  though  they  work 
on  the  less  susceptible  arid  less  plastic  natures  of  mature 
individuals,  produce  obsessions  and  thwartings  which  function 
at  times,  exclusively  almost,  in  determining  the  behavior  of 
great  classes  of  the  industrial  population.  The  powerful  forces 
of  the  working-class  environment  which  thwart  and  balk  instinct 
expression  are  suggested  in  the  phrases  "monotonous  work," 
"dirty  work,"  "simplified  work,"  "mechanized  work,"  the  "servile 
place  of  labor,"  "insecure  tenure  of  the  job,"  "hire  and  fire," 
"winter  unemployment,"  "the  ever  found  union  of  the  poor 
district  with  the  crime  district,"  and  the  "restricted  district  of 
prostitution,"  the  "open  shop,"  the  "labor  turnover,"  "poverty," 
the  "bread  lines,"  the  "scrap  heap,"  "destitution."  If  we 
postulate  some  sixteen  instinct  unit  characters  which  are  present 
under  the  laborer's  blouse  and  insistently  demand  the  same 
gratification  that  is,  with  painful  care,  planned  for  the  college 
student,  in  just  what  kind  of  perverted  compensations  must  a 
laborer  indulge  to  make  endurable  his  existence?  A  western 
hobo  tries  in  a  more  or  less  frenzied  way  to  compensate  for  a 
general  all-embracing  thwarting  of  his  nature  by  a  wonderful 
concentration  of  sublimation  activities  on  the  wander  instinct. 
The  monotony,  indignity,  dirt,  and  sexual  apologies  of,  for 
instance,  the  unskilled  worker's  life  bring  their  definite  fixations, 
their  definite  irrational,  inferiority  obsessions. 

The  balked  laborer  here  follows  one  of  the  two  described 
lines  of  conduct:  First,  he  either  weakens,  becomes  inefficient, 
drifts  away,  loses  interest  in  the  quality  of  his  work,  drinks, 
deserts  his  family;  or  secondly,  he  indulges  in  a  true  to  type 
inferiority  compensation,  and  in  order  to  dignify  himself,  to 
eliminate  for  himself  his  inferiority  in  his  own  eyes,  he  strikes 
or  brings  on  a  strike;  he  commits  violence,  or  he  stays  on  the  job 
and  injures  machinery,  or  mutilates  the  materials.  He  is  fit  food 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  59 

for  dynamite  conspiracies.  He  is  ready  to  make  sabotage  a  part 
of  his  regular  habit  scheme.  His  condition  is  one  of  mental 
stress  and  unfocused  psychic  unrest,  and  could  in  all  accuracy 
be  called  a  definite  industrial  psychosis.  He  is  neither  wilful 
nor  responsible,  he  is  suffering  from  a  stereotyped  mental 
disease. 

If  one  leaves  the  strata  of  unskilled  labor  and  investigates 
the  higher  economic  classes,  he  finds  parallel  conditions.  There 
is  a  profound  unrest  and  strong  migratory  tendency  among  de- 
partment-store employees.  One  New  York  store  with  less  than 
three  thousand  employees  has  thirteen  thousand  pass  through 
its  employ  in  a  year.  Since  the  establishment  in  American  life 
of  big  business  with  its  extensive  efficiency  systems,  its  order 
and  dehumanized  discipline,  its  caste  system,  as  it  were,  there* 
has  developed  among  its  highly  paid  men  a  persistent  unrest,  a 
dissatisfaction  and  decay  of  morale  which  is  so  noticeable  and 
costly  that  it  has  received  repeated  attention.  Even  the  conven- 
tional competitive  efficiency  of  American  business  is  in  grave 
question.  I  suggest  that  this  unrest  is  a  true  psychosis,  a  definite 
mental  unbalance,  an  efficiency  psychosis,  as  it  were,  and  has 
its  definite  psychic  antecedents;  and  that  our  present  moralizing 
and  guess-solutions  are  both  hopeless  and  ludicrous. 


THE  BASIC  PRINCIPLE  1 

In  our  time  the  coming  of  the  Great  Society  has  created  an 
environment  in  which,  for  most  of  us,  neither  our  instinctive 
nor  our  intelligent  dispositions  find  it  easy  to  discover  their 
most  useful  stimuli.  Any  one  who  desires  to  appreciate  this 
should  visit  one  of  those  "casual  labour"  quarters  in  London, 
where  modern  civilization  has  so  disastrously  failed,  and  where 
the  facts  of  life  are  hidden  neither  by  conventional  manners  nor 
by  the  privacy  which  is  possible  in  the  great  half-empty  houses 
of  the  well-to-do.  Stay  there,  walking  and  watching,  from  the 
afternoon  closing  of  the  schools  till  the  return  home  of  the 
men.  Look  at  the  windows  of  the  newsagents  and  tobacconists, 
and  the  frank  display  in  the  dingy  little  chemists'  shops.  Listen 
to  the  women  coming  out  of  the  "off-license"  grocery,  and  the 

1  Graham  Wallas.  The  Great  Society,  p.  62-8.  Published  by  The  Mac- 
millan  Company.  1920.  Reprinted  by  permission. 


60  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

girls  who  are  waiting  to  enter  the  music-halls  and  the  cinemato- 
graph theaters.  Notice  what  part  of  the  evening  paper  the  men 
are  reading. 

The  people  round  you  are  of  all  ages  from  infancy  to  dotage ; 
and  you  can  see  what  it  is  that  here  stimulates  the  instincts 
which  one  by  one  appear  in  the  growth  of  a  human  being.  The 
babies  are  tugging  at  dirty  india-rubber  teats.  The  sweet  shops 
are  selling  hundredweights  of  bright-coloured  stuff,  which  ex- 
cite the  appetite  of  the  children  without  nourishing  their  bodies. 
That  pale-faced  boy  first  knew  love,  not  when  he  looked  at  a 
girl  whom  later  he  might  marry,  but  when  a  dirty  picture  post- 
card caught  his  eye  or  he  watched  a  suggestive  film.  His  dreams 
of  heroism  are  satisfied  by  halfpenny  romances,  half  criminal 
'and  half  absurd.  Loyalty  and  comradeship  mean  sticking  to  his 
street  gang;  and  the  joy  of  constructive  work  means  the  money 
which  he  can  get  for  riding  behind  a  van  or  running  messages. 

The  men  are  never  far  removed  from  the  two  great  social 
forces  of  gambling  and  alcohol.  If  the  desire  of  change,  of  risk, 
of  achievement  comes  on,  then  the  bookmaker  is  always  round 
the  corner;  and  the  publican  will  give  at  any  moment,  for  a  few 
pence,  that  dreaming  reverie,  that  sense  of  the  tremendous  sig- 
nificance of  the  world,  which  led  their  ancestors,  sitting  at  the 
tent  door  or  among  the  mountain  sheep,  to  the  beginnings  of 
philosophy  and  science.  And  because  the  new  facts  by  which 
our  dispositions  are  now  stimulated  are  only  inexact  substitutes 
for  the  old  facts  by  which  they  were  stimulated  during  the  long 
process  of  evolution,  the  stimulation  itself  is  weak  and  capri- 
cious. Even  the  enthusiasm  of  the  group  at  the  public-house 
door,  who  are  discussing  a  glove-fight,  seems,  as  you  watch 
them,  to  be  thin  and  half-hearted. 

A  little  farther  on  the  street  widens,  because  a  hundred  years 
ago  it  used  to  cross  a  village  green.  You  hear  a  tired  and 
springless  hymn-tune,  and  stop  while  a  Salvation  Army  preacher 
shouts  a  quotation  from  St.  Paul : 

"If  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  shall  die;  but  if  ye  through 
the  Spirit  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live." 

He  is  imploring  his  scanty  following  of  women  and  children, 

*and  the  few  inattentive  passers-by,  to  strive  and  pray  till  all 

those  instincts  which  can  be  put  to   such   evil  use   have  been 

killed  out  of  their  souls.     You  remember  as  you  listen  that  in 

the  tall  tenement-building  behind  you,  or  in  the  new  brick  suburb 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  61 

a  mile  or  two  away,  there  are  thousands  of  men  and  women  who 
are  making  perhaps  the  most  heroic  effort  to  "mortify  the  deeds 
of  the  body"  that  ever  has  been  attempted.  They  are  mainly 
impelled,  not  by  the  theology  of  Blood  and  Fire,  but  by  an  in- 
tense longing  to  be  "respectable,"  to  have  some  meaning  and 
dignity  in  their  own  lives  and  those  of  their  children,  to  be  rid 
of  the  hopeless  yielding  to  temptation,  the  weak  shame,  the 
squalor  and  disease  of  the  life  from  which  they  have  so  hardly 
escaped.  Neither  father  nor  mother  spend  a  halfpenny  or  a  half 
hour  without  calculation,  the  children  are  carefully  dressed  in 
clothes  which  they  dare  not  spoil,  and  are  strictly  confined,  ex- 
cept for  occasional  holidays,  to  house  or  school.  And  yet  in  a 
poor  district  the  school  medical  officer  may  report  that  the  chil- 
dren of  the  more  respectable  families  are  physically  and  nerv- 
ously in  a  worse  condition  than  the  rest. 

For  we  cannot  in  St.  Paul's  sense  "mortify"  our  dispositions. 
If  they  are  not  stimulated,  they  do  not  therefore  die,  nor  is  the 
human  being  what  he  would  be  if  they  had  never  existed.  If 
we  leave  unstimulated,  or,  to  use  a  shorter  term,  if  we  "baulk" 
any  one  of  our  main  dispositions,  curiosity,  property,  trial  and 
.error,  sex,  and  the  rest,  we  produce  in  ourselves  a  state  of 
nervous  strain.  It  may  be  desirable  in  any  particular  case  of 
conduct  that  we  should  do  so,  but  we  ought  to  know  what  we  are 
doing. 

The  baulking  of  each  disposition  produces  its  own  type  of 
strain;  but  the  distinctions  between  the  types  are,  so  far,  un- 
named and  unrecognized,  and  a  trained  psychologist  would  do 
a  real  service  to  civilized  life  if  he  would  carefully  observe  and 
describe  them. 

One  peculiarity  of  the  state  of  "baulked  disposition"  is  that 
it  is  extremely  difficult  for  the  sufferer  to  find  his  own  way 
out  of  it.  The  stimulus  must  come  from  outside.  When  once 
he  is  "dull"  or  "flat"  or  "sick  of  things"  or  whatever  the  name 
may  be  which  he  gives  to  his  feelings,  he  cannot,  unless  he  is 
a  man  of  quite  exceptional  resource  and  nervous  elasticity,  in- 
vent anything  to  do  which  will  "stimulate"  him.  Now,  for  in- 
stance, that  the  European  nations  keep  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  men  under  arms  in  time  of  peace,  the  colonels  of  regiments 
and  the  captains  of  warships  know  by  experience  that  their 
men  become  "fidgetty"  or  "fed  up"  by  a  life  which  gives  play 
only  to  a  few  dispositions;  and  when  that  occurs  they  prescribe 


62  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

in  a  haphazard  way  a  smoking  concert,  or  a  route  march,  or  a 
football  match,  or,  on  board  ship,  a  dance,  or  clothes-mending, 
or  gun  drill,  for  them  all  alike.  A  skilled  London  hostess  is 
more  successful  when  she  goes  round  a  room  full  of  bored 
celebrities,  applying  to  each  an  appropriate  stimulus:  "Miss 
Jones  so  wants  to  know  about  your  last  voyage,"  or,  "here  is  a 
friend  of  Mr.  Brown"  (a  scientific  opponent),  or,  more  simply, 
"I  want  to  introduce  you  to  that  girl  with  the  beautiful  hair," 
until  each  is  roused  to  that  "energy  of  the  soul"  which  is 
Aristotle's  definition  of  happiness.  If  one  looks  at  a  respectable 
crowd  in  a  London  park  on  the  afternoon  of  a  Bank  holiday, 
one  feels  an  intense  longing  for  the  appearance  of  a  thousand 
such  hostesses  and  of  a  social  system  which  would  enable  them 
to  get  to  work. 

This  want  of  harmony,  in  great  things  and  in  small,  between 
our  race  and  its  environment  has  been  noticed  ever  since  men, 
at  the  beginning  of  civilization,  began  consciously  to  reflect  upon 
their  way  of  living.  They  dimly  felt  that  their  earliest  instincts 
were  related  to  an  open-air  life  in  which  their  ancestors  had 
supported  themselves  on  the  gifts  of  the  untilled  land.  Such 
a  life  was  "natural,"  and  poets,  for  thousands  of  years,  have 
longed  to  return  to  it,  to  recall  the  "golden  age"  before  the 
invention  of  fire,  or  the  Garden  of  Eden,  whose  inhabitants  knew 
neither  clothing  nor  agriculture. 

It  was  the  supreme  achievement  of  the  Greek  intellect  to 
substitute  for  this  vain  longing  a  new  conception  of  nature. 
To  Aristotle,  as  to  Hobbes,  it  was  evident  that  the  old  life  in 
which  man,  without  the  powers  which  civilization  gave  him, 
faced  an  untamed  world,  must  have  been  "poor,  nasty,  brutish 
and  short."  It  was  true  that  man's  nature  and  his  environment 
were  at  war,  but  the  remedy  was  not  to  go  back  to  the  forests 
of  the  past,  but  to  invent  the  city  of  the  future,  the  material 
and  social  organization  wrhich  should  contrive  a  new  harmony, 
higher  because  it  was  deliberate.  When  Aristotle  said  "Man 
is  an  animal  adapted  for  living  in  a  city-state,"  he  meant,  not 
that  man  was  living  in  such  a  state  when  Zeus  was  born,  but 
that  the  city-state  stimulated  his  nature  to  its  noblest  expression. 
"For  what  every  being  is  in  its  perfect  condition,  that  certainly 
is  the  nature  of  that  being."  Even  for  Zeno's  less  confident 
philosophy  "Follow  nature"  meant  not  "Go  back  to  the  past" 
but  "Examine  the  conditions  of  a  good  life  in  the  present." 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  63 

This  is  the  master-task  of  civilized  mankind.  They  will  fail 
in  it  again  and  again,  partly  for  lack  of  inventive  power,  partly 
from  sheer  ignorance  of  the  less  obvious  facts  of  their  material 
surroundings  and  mental  structure.  But  it  is  hardly  possible 
for  any  one  to  endure  life  who  does  not  believe  that  they  will 
succeed  in  producing  a  harmony  between  themselves  and  their 
environment  far  deeper  and  wider  than  anything  which  we  can 
see  today. 


THE  BALKED  INSTINCT  OF  CONTRIVANCE  * 

I  have  mentioned  that  among  the  marks  of  a  true  instinct 
is  universality  of  occurrence.  That  of  contrivance  is  verified  by 
the  test.  Extraordinary  as  it  is  in  some  individuals,  it  is  present 
in  all.  In  the  average  man  it  perhaps  should  be  called  an 
instinct  of  construction  rather  than  one  of  contrivance.  Every 
one  of  us  is  conscious  of  a  satisfaction  in  doing  his  work  handily 
and  well,  in  seeing  the  product  grow  under  his  own  hands. 

Hence  we  find  this  instinct  actuating  the  business  man  as 
well  as  the  inventor  and  mechanic.  The  complexity  of  the 
impulses  and  motives  which  underlie  business  activity  will  form 
the  special  topic  of  the  following  chapters;  here  I  anticipate 
for  a  moment  what  might  as  appropriately  be  said  there,  con- 
cerning the  influence  of  the  instinct  of  contrivance  on  the  active 
man  of  affairs.  This  sort  of  person  likes  to  see  his  enterprise 
well  conducted;  and  the  enjoyment  is  quite  apart  from  the 
money-making  outcome.  As  with  other  instincts,  that  of  con- 
trivance is  felt  in  varying  force  by  different  individuals.  There 
are  not  many  with  whom  it  would  be  as  strong  as  with  a 
manufacturer  who  once  assured  me  (in  perfect  good  faith,  I 
am  convinced)  that  the  chief  satisfaction  which  he  got  from 
his  establishment  was  the  feeling  that  it  was  in  the  best  order 
and  at  the  height  of  efficiency, — shipshape  from  top  to  bottom. 
But  the  immense  majority  would  confess  to  some  feeling  of 
intrinsic  pleasure  in  having  a  well-equipped  plant,  a  first-rate 
organization.  I  mention  organization  as  well  as  plant,  because 
the  modern  business  man  is  commonly  concerned  with  the 
former  not  less  than  the  latter.  .  . 

1  F.  W.  Taussig.  Inventors  and  Money-makers,  p.  57-70.  Published 
by  The  Macmillan  Company.  New  York.  1915.  Reprinted  by  permission. 


64  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

Much  more  important,  however,  is  the  influence  of  the 
instinct  of  contrivance  on  the  employees.  It  is  more  important 
as  concerns  the  problem  of  happiness,  simply  because  of  the 
immense  numerical  preponderance  of  the  employees  over  em- 
ployers. There  is  a  clear  difference  between  the  two  classes  as 
regards  the  scope  given  to  this  bent  in  their  work.  The 
capitalistic  organization  of  industry,  large-scale  production, 
hired  labor,  and  the  wage  system, — these  may  serve  to  add  to 
the  employer's  intrinsic  satisfaction  from  his  daily  work,  or  at 
least  to  entail  no  loss  of  satisfaction;  but  they  seem  to  lessen 
seriously  the  possibilities  of  a  life  of  spontaneous  activity  and 
of  sustained  happiness  for  the  manual  workmen  who  form  the 
great  body  of  employees. 

Just  how  far  the  development  of  quasi-automatic  machinery 
runs  counter  to  this  factor  in  well-being  is  not  easy  to  say. 
Probably  the  charge  often  urged,  that  it  takes  all  the  interest 
and  savor  out  of  the  day's  work,  is  exaggerated;  or  at  least 
there  is  exaggeration  in  the  assertion  that  the  industrial  system 
is  in  this  regard  radically  worse  than  it  was  before  the  era  of 
the  machine.  The  handicraftsman's  labor,  like  that  of  the  tender 
of  a  machine,  often  involves  repetition  and  montony.  Moreover, 
a  vast  amount  of  dreary  heavy  labor  has  been  taken  over  by 
the  machinery.  The  modern  sawmill  is  better  than  the  old  saw 
pit;  the  planning  mill  better  than  the  old  jack  plane.  There  is 
truth  also  in  the  observation  that  monotony  is  by  no  means 
equally  distasteful  to  all.  Men  vary  in  this  regard,  as  in  every 
other;  and  the  simple  repetition  of  identical  movements  is  not 
necessarily  a  cause  of  weariness  and  abhorrence  to  those  of 
inert  mind  and  tranquil  disposition. 

Yet  it  remains  true  that  there  is  a  difference  of  degree 
between  the  tool  and  the  machine;  a  lessened  scope  for 
individual  initiative  and  individual  impress,  and  so  a  lessened 
opportunity  for  the  satisfaction  of  an  instinct  like  that  of  con- 
trivance. True,  the  expert  mechanics  needed  by  modern  indus- 
try— a  considerable  part  of  the  labor  force,  even  though  not  a 
large  proportion — may  still  be  in  the  way  of  experiencing  some 
such  satisfaction.  Among  the  rank  and  file  of  factory  oper- 
atives, also,  the  possibility  is  not  completely  excluded;  machines, 
however  perfect,  depend  in  some  degree  on  the  operative's  care 
and  skill.  Yet  in  general  the  minute  partition  of  labor,  the 
extreme  differentiation  of  machinery,  the  constant  effort  to 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  65 

achieve  automatic  start  and  check  and  action,  the  tendency  to 
reduce  the  worker  to  a  mere  feeder  and  watcher, — all  these 
mean  a  loss  in  interest,  in  possible  variety,  in  the  exercise  of 
skill  and  contrivance.  The  skilled  mechanics  themselves,  whose 
work  tends  to  be  turned  to  the  construction  and  repair  and 
oversight  of  machinery  are  often  tenders  and  users  of  machine 
tools  which,  though  extraordinarily  ingenious  and  effective,  are 
quasi-automatic.  Surveying  the  situation  as  a  whole,  the  decline 
of  the  handicraft,  though  it  does  not  necessarily  mean  a  less 
demand  on  the  intelligence  and  skill  of  the  workmen,  means 
less  opportunity  for  individual  adaptation  and  workmanship. 
Against  the  clear  gain  in  quantitative  output  from  machine  indus- 
try so  much  emphasized  in  economic  literature,  must  be  set 
some  loss,  even  though  not  an  unqualified  loss,  as  regards  the 
scope  and  the  work  itself.  .  . 

Again :  the  instinct  of  contrivance  in  the  business  man  him- 
self, and  the  ready  vent  which  is  given  by  nature  of  his  own 
work,  go  far  to  explain  his  inability  to  understand,  his  unwilling- 
ness to  tolerate,  the  restrictive  policy  which  so  often  runs 
counter  to  it  among  the  employees.  The  position  of  the  em- 
ployer obviously  is  just  the  opposite  from  that  of  the  men.  In 
his  case  all  the  surrounding  circumstances  tend  to  foster  and 
strengthen  the  contriving  impulse,  whereas  among  the  men  the 
accepted  methods  of  bargaining  tend  to  push  it  aside  and 
smother  it.  Not  only  the  employer's  calculations  of  gain,  which 
are  doubtless  uppermost  in  his  thoughts,  but  the  inborn  bent 
of  which  he  is  only  half-conscious,  impel  him  to  bring  his 
operations  to  the  utmost  pitch  of  efficiency.  His  own  satisfaction 
from  proper  contriving  makes  him  feel  irritation,  even  wrath, 
when  his  men  limit  their  tasks,  hold  aloof  from  labor-saving 
appliances,  prevent  the  well-designed  organization  and  plant 
from  turning  out  the  maximum.  This  cause  of  friction  is  the 
more  likely  to  issue  in  contention  because  neither  participant 
understands  the  other's  point  of  view ;  nay,  neither  understands 
his  own.  The  employer  declares  that  the  men  are  foolish, 
ignorant,  act  against  their  own  interests,  still  more  against  the 
interests  of  the  public.  He  is  quite  alive  to  the  fact  (though 
he  may  not  overtly  lay  stress  on  it)  that  their  restrictive  policy 
also  interferes  with  his  money-making.  But  he  is  probably  not 
at  all  conscious  that  his  interest  in  the  money-making  policy 
is  supplemented  by  his  own  instinct  of  contrivance.  The  men 


66  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

on  their  part  are  as  little  aware  that  they  are  opposing  some- 
thing more  than  the  mere  business  plans  of  the  employer,  and 
equally  little  aware  of  causing  in  themselves  a  similar  sort  of 
thwarting. 


THE    INDUSTRIAL   WASTE   DUE   TO   BALKED 
HUMAN  NATURE  1 

To  the  question,  what  is  the  matter  with  the  men,  the  writer 
received  varied  answers.  For  example : 

From  an  employer :  The  men  are  too  lazy  to  work ;  our  laws, 
courts  and  police  institutions  are  weak  as  regards  loafing,  beg- 
ging and  stealing ;  and  the  charity  organizations  in  the  cities 
demoralize  rather  than  uplift  the  men,  by  providing  them  with 
meals  and  shelter  without  labor. 

From  a  charity  worker;  Yes,  the  men  are  falling  down-and- 
out  in  a  greater  number  than  ever  before.  For  this  the  hard 
and  unhealthy  conditions  at  the  work  places  are  responsible  to 
a  degree,  but,  in  the  main,  the  men  themselves  are  defective  and 
responsible  for  their  misfortunes.  Some  inherit  certain  defects 
by  birth,  but  the  vast  majority  have  acquired  bad  habits,  have 
weakened  their  bodies,  and  have  lost  ambition,  will-power  and 
self-respect. 

From  a  preacher:  The  fountain  head  of  the  trouble  consists 
in  the  fact  that  the  men  have  lost  religion;  if  they  would  turn 
back  to  God,  everything  else  with  them  would  be  all  right. 

From  a  radical  labor  leader,  socialist,  I.W.W.,  or  union 
man :  The  existing  industrial  conditions,  low  wages,  long  hours, 
poor  living,  etc.,  are  responsible  for  the  casualization  of  laborers 
and  the  production  of  hoboes  and  tramps.  There  is  nothing 
wrong  with  the  men  themselves ;  do  away  with  these  conditions 
and  with  the  wage-system  in  general,  and  there  would  be  no 
more  down-and-outs  the  product  of  industrial  slavery. 

From  an  educator :  The  main  cause  of  casualization  is  the 
lack  of  training  in  general  character  building  and  in  trade. 

From  a  moralist:  The  main  cause  is  drinking  and  prostitu- 
tion— saloons  and  red-light  districts. 

From  a  student  of  industrial  problems :  For  the  casualization 

1  Peter  A.  Speek.  The  Psychology  of  Floating  Workers.  Annals  of 
the  American  Academy.  January,  1917.  p.  75-8. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  67 

of  laborers  a  number  of  causes  are  responsible;  rapid  introduc- 
tion of  skill-replacing  machinery  and  other  improvements  in  the 
technique  of  production;  seasonable  character  of  numbers  of 
large  industries;  fluctuation  of  market;  irregularity  of  employ- 
ment; unregulated  transportation  of  laborers;  and  pressure  of 
circumstances  and  environment  in  general.  The  existence  of 
casual  laborers  in  large  numbers  is  an  essential  of  the  present 
organization  of  our  industrial  system. 

These  widely  varied  opinions  about  the  causes  of  casualiza- 
tion  show  the  complexity  of  the  problem.  .  . 

One  of  the  first  signs  of  the  decrease  in  the  ambition  and 
hope  of  a  worker  is  the  loss  of  interest  in  his  earnings.  He  soon 
quits  saving  for  two  reasons:  first,  all  of  his  previous  attempts 
in  saving  failed  because  the  hard  times  of  unemployment,  or  ill- 
ness, or  some  other  misfortune  ate  up  his  savings;  and,  second, 
he  begins  to  look  upon  his  earnings  as  merely  a  means  "to  keep 
his  soul  and  body  together,"  not  as  a  means  for  his  success  in 
life.  In  consequence  he  begins  to  work  seasonally  and  casually. 
First,  industries  require  that  kind  of  work,  and  second,  seasonal 
and  casual  work  corresponds  to  his  changes,  views  and  needs. 
These  changes,  views  and  needs  are  his  desire  to  be  on  the  move, 
and  the  need  to  earn  only  a  "stake,"  a  certain  sum  of  money, 
specified  in  his  own  mind  at  the  acceptance  of  the  job.  This 
stake  is  destined  to  help  him  to  prosecute  his  immediate  plans, 
to  buy  clothes  and  shoes,  to  have  a  "good  time,"  to  buy  meals 
on  his  travels,  or  what  not.  But  the  main  thing  is,  he  must  move ; 
he  must  change  his  environment  so  as  to  see  something  new, 
interesting.  To  this  end  he  has  always  a  plan  in  his  mind — 
where  to  go  and  how  to  go. 

But  when  the  last  rays  of  his  ambition  and  hope  are  gone 
he  becomes  a  self-confessed  failure  and  falls  down,  first,  into 
the  rank  of  hoboes — still  laborers — and  then  into  the  rank  of 
down-and-outs. 

In  the  latter  state  he  is  characterized  by  the  following 
psychological  features : 

(a)  The    passion    for    wandering    is    increased    almost    to 
madness ; 

(b)  He  has  acquired  a  profound  aversion  to  work; 

(c)  He  drinks  whenever  and  wherever  he  has  a  chance; 

(d)  He  has  developed  a  strange,  childish  expectation  that 
he  may  strike  in  some  way,  somewhere,  a  tremendously  promis- 


68  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

i 

ing  opportunity.  This  is  something  like  the  alluring  dream  of 
a  rich  gold  strike  to  a  prospector.  If  this  hoped-for  opportunity 
were  such  that  its  realization  might  reasonably  be  expected,  it 
would  recreate  in  him  a  strong  enthusiasm  and  confidence,  as  a 
result  of  which  he  would  cease  drinking,  and  would  work  and 
battle  till  he  won  out  and  became  a  victor  in  life  instead  of  a 
beaten  man.  But  if  one  asks  him  of  what  nature  is  the  opportunity 
he  expects  to  find,  he  answers  that  it  may  happen  that  he  will 
by  chance  become  a  prospector  and  strike  a  gold  mine ;  or  marry 
rich;  or  he  may  become  a  fisherman,  at  first  for  wages,  after- 
wards independently;  or  he  may  find  a  very  good  job,  working 
on  which  he  will  save  lots  of  money ;  or  he  may  specialize  in 
some  line  of  highly  paid  work;  or  he  may  by  chance  secure  a 
homestead;  or — or— 

Led  by  such  faint  hope — very  faint,  almost  nothing  in  his 
mind,  but  strong  enough  in  his  sentiment — he  roams  restlessly 
over  all  the  country,  from  north  to  south,  from  coast  to  coast, 
back  and  forth,  moving  from  place  to  place  by  freighting  or 
walking,  seldom  paying  his  way  in  his  rainbow  chasing. 

(e)  He  has  lost  his  ability  to  concentrate  on  anything 
sensible. 

How  can  such  psychological  features,  seemingly  unnatural 
to  any  man,  be  explained?  He  is  simply  trying  to  escape  from 
himself  or  to  forget  himself,  in  general.  Life  is  dark  and  hope- 
less for  him — nothing  is  left  of  his  ambition,  except  gloomy 
thoughts  and  sad  feelings. 

Wonderful  human  nature  invents  other,  one  might  say  in 
common  parlance,  "artificial"  substitutes  for  "natural"  enjoy- 
ment appearing  in  ambition  and  hope.  By  changing  environ- 
ment— scenes — by  constant  wandering,  he  keeps  up  some  sort  of 
interest  in  life. 

He  is  averse  to  work  because  his  nervous  system,  by  suffering 
and  privation,  is  exhausted.  Furthermore,  he  answers  to  the 
question  why  he  does  not  want  to  labor :  To  labor !  Why  should 
I  labor?  I  have  labored,  worked  hard — years,  tens  of  years,  but 
the  labor  did  not  help,  it  let  me  fall  down  where  I  am  as  you 
see  me. 

But  in  general   his   idleness  or   "laziness"   is   nothing  more 
or  less  than  a  kind  of  defence-reaction  forced  upon  him  by  na-^ 
ture.     In  drunkenness  he  also  finds  a  sort  of  "brightness"  and 
forgetfulness.     Rainbow  chasing  is  again  an  artificial  means  of 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  69 

making  his  life  "ambitious"  and  "hopeful."  His  lack  of  ability 
to  concentrate  his  attention  on  anything  is  explained  by  the  fact 
that  he  is  worn-out  and  as  a  result  his  will-power  has  gone  to 
pieces. 

No  law,  court,  police,  prison,  can  "cure"  him;  nothing  but 
medical  treatment.  But  as  medical  treatment  is  more  costly 
than  the  prevention  of  disease,  the  nation  should  take  steps  in 
the  direction  of  preventing  a  large  number  of  its  members  from 
falling  down-and-out,  beginning  with  the  regulation  of  labor 
conditions  in  unskilled  industries,  especially  in  those  of  seasonal 
character. 

THE  "PASSIVE  RESISTANCE  OF  THE  HUMAN 
SPIRIT" x 

Dean  Inge  says :  "The  life  of  the  town  artisan  who  works  in 
a  factory  is  a  life  to  which  the  human  organism  has  not  adapted 
itself."  The  deracinated  life  of  the  human  herd  in  modern 
towns  is  the  condition  and  the  instrument  of  large-scale  indus- 
try. A  speeded-up  machine  production,  whose  products  do  not 
bring  a  good  life  to  those  producing  them,  carries  the  germ  of 
its  own  decay.  "A  barbaric  civilization,  built  on  blind  impulse 
and  ambition,  should  fear  to  awaken  a  deeper  detestation  than 
could  ever  be  aroused  by  those  more  beautiful  tyrannies,  chiv- 
alrous or  religious,  against  which  past  revolutions  have  been 
directed." 

Human  nature  in  industry  has  gone  on  strike.  The  decayed 
autocracy  of  financiers  and  business  men  cannot  be  restored  by 
"profit-sharing"  and  "co-partnership."  The  revolt  is  not  against 
details.  It  is  against  the  purpose,  products,  methods,  and  con- 
ditions of  industry.  The  workers  do  not  want  the  "wants"  that 
fill  modern  life,  the  splatter  of  the  shops.  Sections  of  them 
have  proved  this  by  knocking  off  work  for  a  day  (or  even  two 
days)  a  week,  when  they  attain  a  moderate  standard  of  living 
— the  level  which  Professor  Zimmern  defined  to  me  as  one  of 
"reasonable  satisfaction." 

Something  in  the  industrial  system  offended  the  soul  of  the 
worker.  He  resented  the  forced  draught  that  played  on  his 
working  day.  He  saw  "an  immense  accumulation  of  the 

1  Arthur  Gleason.  What  the  Workers  Want.  p.  256-7.  Harcourt, 
Brace  and  Howe.  New  York.  1920. 


70  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

apparatus  of  life,  without  any  corresponding  elevation  in  moral 
standards,"  creating  a  civilization  of  "technical  efficiency  with- 
out love." 

There  came  a  moment  when  Napoleon's  soldiers  tired  of  the 
grandiose  and  expanding  campaigns  of  conquest.  The  motives 
that  had  driven  them  wore  thin.  So  it  is  with  the  workers. 
The  familiar  compulsions  no  longer  avail,  the  industrial  organi- 
zation crumbles,  and  the  mines  and  railways  and  factories  be- 
come a  wasting  asset.  Militant  strikes  can  be  crushed  by  tanks 
and  machine  guns.  But  against  the  passive  resistance  of  the  hu- 
man spirit  in  the  millions  of  workers  the  owners  make  war  in 
vain.  It  is  a  process  of  nature,  a  molecular  change,  invisible  and 
universal.  This  life-force  can  be  re-enlisted  only  on  its  own 
terms. 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  LABOR  ASPIRATIONS1 

In  addition  to  giving  him  an  agency  for  the  defense  of  his 
rights,  the  union  gives  the  workman  a  medium  of  gaining 
knowledge  about  the  industry  of  which  he  is  a  part.  The 
worker  is  no  longer  a  blind  cog  in  a  massive  machine.  He 
knows  something  of  the  whole  problem.  And  the  more  he 
knows  of  the  whole  problem  the  more  valuable  he  is  to  the  in- 
dustry. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  industrial  scientists  may  be  of  tre- 
mendous service.  They  can  take  the  information  of  industry 
and  give  it  to  the  worker  for  his  enlightenment  and  for  the 
quickening  of  his  interest  in  the  industry.  The  normal  human 
mind  craves  information ;  it  fights  against  darkness  and  in  time 
loses  interest  in  a  darkness  unillumined. 

Repetitive  operations  especially  demand  the  attentions  of 
scientists.  How  much  havoc  needlessly  repetitive  processes  have 
caused  will  never  be  known.  What  a  mass  of  suppressed  resent- 
ment and  hatred  there  is  among  workers  who  must  submit  to 
them  can  never  be  known.  We  only  know  that  here  and  there 
a  suicide  results,  a  maniac  results,  a  broken  home  results.  For 
such  of  these  processes  as  are  imperative  there  should  be  all  of 
the  surrounding  enlightenment  that  science  can  give.  Men,  for 
one  thing,  are  entitled  to  knowledge  as  to  the  purpose  of  their 
work,  as  to  where  it  fits  in  the  great  scheme  of  things. 

1  Samuel  Gompers.  Union  Labor  and  the  Enlightened  Employer.  In- 
dustrial Management.  April  i,  1921.  p.  239. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  71 

It  is  just  to  demand  that  workers  know  the  facts  about  costs, 
about  supplies,  their  source  and  the  reliability  of  future  supply, 
about  overhead  and  operating  costs  and  about  where  their  prod- 
uct goes  and  why  it  goes  there.  Science,  if  it  will,  may  weave 
romance  into  many  a  dead  and  dusty  corner  of  industry,  into 
many  a  weary,  heavy  life.  The  coming  of  steam  took  out  of  the 
life  of  labor  that  which  made  it  full  and  rounded,  that  which 
made  it  a  life  fit  for  human  beings,  taxing  and  rewarding  the 
skill  of  hand  and  brain,  and  science  must  give  it  back. 

Reaction  thinks  that  the  well-springs  of  human  hope  that 
manifest  themselves  when  the  workers  speak  for  better  lives  and 
for  more  of  freedom,  can  be  dried  up  and  destroyed  by  repres- 
sive and  coercive  measures.  They  think  only  as  far  as  the  iron 
heel.  They  know  nothing  of  the  psychology  of  masses  of  work- 
ers, they  know  nothing  of  the  longings  and  hopes  that  fill  their 
hearts.  They  plan  by  the  ledger  and  monthly  balance  sheet. 

Scientists  are  under  no  such  limitations.  Engineers  know 
better.  The  workers,  quick  to  detect  any  false  note  in  plans  in- 
volving human  life  and  human  rights,  rejected  with  unanimity 
and  bitterness,  the  original  Taylor  system  and  its  allied  distor- 
tions. The  workers  knew  the  fault  and  time  has  amply  justified 
their  verdict.  It  is  now  generally  admitted,  even  by  its  former 
foremost  advocates.  But  most  scientists  of  industry  have  found 
the  missing  links  and  have  given  humanity,  human  rights,  hu- 
man aspirations  and  human  impulses  their  proper  place  and  full 
valuation. 


THE  NATURAL  FORCES  BEHIND  SEEMINGLY 
UNREASONABLE  BEHAVIOR  l 

In  order  to  make  it  easier  to  think  about  the  industrial 
worker,  it  has  long  been  the  fashion  of  the  philosophers  to  de- 
scribe him  as  the  "economic  man" — interested  in  playing  his  part 
in  the  process  of  production  or  distribution,  more  or  less  ex- 
clusively for  the  purpose  of  thereby  earning  his  daily  bread,  and, 
with  good  luck  favoring,  his  daily  jam  and  cake.  "All  he  wants 
is  in  the  pay  envelope,"  so  more  practical  and  experienced  ob- 
servers are  apt  to  voice  the  same  effort  to  find  an  all-inclusive 
rule  of  modern  human  action.  Such  a  man,  it  goes  without  saying, 

1  Whiting  Williams.  What's  on  the  Worker's  Mind.  p.  293-308. 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons.  New  York.  1920. 


72  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

will  have  only  an  incidental  interest  in  the  nature,  the  hours, 
or  other  conditions  of  his  work,  or  the  character  of  his  foreman, 
or  his  company,  so  long  as  he  takes  out  of  the  plant  enough 
money  wherewith  to  buy  in  the  remaining  hours  of  his  day  the 
satisfaction  of  his  real  desires  as  a  person  among  other  persons. 

This  explanation  of  the  mainspring  of  men's  doings  is  highly 
popular.  To  my  great  surprise  I  found  it  used  quite  as  much 
by  the  worker  for  the  explanation  of  his  employer's  behavior 
and  especially  his  misbehavior,  as  by  the  employer  for  the  under- 
standing of  the  worker's  comings  and  shortcomings.  But  some- 
thing must  surely  be  wrong  with  a  mainspring  whose  effective- 
ness is  so  readily  accepted  in  the  case  of  the  "other  fellow"  and 
so  strenuously  denied  in  our  own.  At  the  very  least  an  enor- 
mous amount  of  proof  ought  to  be  required  in  order  to  sub- 
stantiate on  any  universal  basis  a  theory  which  no  one  can  be 
found  willing  to  admit  for  himself — or  for  any  one  else  except 
the  person  he  does  not  intimately  know. 

Of  course  the  dilemma  may  be  partly  avoided  by  making  the 
all  but  universal  assumption  that  putting  men  into  the  group 
called  Labor  or  Management  or  Capital  changes  them  even  down 
to  the  bottom  of  their  souls  where  their  life's  motors  are  set 
upon  the  piers  of  their  foundation  desires.  This  is  the  way 
often  taken  to  get  around  the  need  of  coming  to  the  understand- 
ing of  the  other  person's  actions  by  taking  the  time  to  under- 
stand him.  Of  such  study  the  result  is  pretty  sure  to  be  the 
same  as  that  which  impressed  itself  after  my  months  at  the 
south  pole  of  the  industrial  world — that  humans  vary  little  at 
the  bottom  of  their  hearts  though  they  may  vary  much  at  the 
tops  of  their  heads;  that  of  all  of  us  the  mainsprings  are  just 
about  the  same,  though  different  circumstances  require  different 
modes  and  methods  of  their  escapement. 

For  some  months  I  carried  about  the  conviction  of  the 
enormous  importance  of  the  job  to  the  wage-worker,  as  though 
it  made  him  a  very  difficult  and  rather  peculiar  kind  of  chap — 
till  I  awoke  to  the  realization  that  in  this  industrial  era  of  ours 
the  job  is  almost  equally  important  to  everybody  else.  After  all 
there  are  exceedingly  few  of  us  in  this  country  whose  first  con- 
cern is  not  our  job.  For  almost  all  of  us  the  most  important 
part  of  our  income,  by  far,  comes  from  the  carrying  of  some 
current  responsibility,  with  serious  trouble  camping  down  very 
close  to  us  the  moment  something  goes  wrong  with  that  source. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  73 

Even  the  industrial  captain  builds  up  his  capital  quite  largely  to 
take  care  of  himself  and  his  family  in  the  days  when  sickness 
or  other  disability  puts  an  end  to  his  yearly  salary  as  the  busy 
director  of  this  enterprise  or  that.  The  chief  dollars-and-cents 
difference  between  his  job  and  that  of  the  workers  in  his  fac- 
tory is  that  he  is  more  likely  to  be  hired — and  paid — by  the 
month  or  the  year  instead  of  by  the  hour,  day,  or  week — and  to 
have  certain  securities  against  unwarranted  discharge.  Upon 
him  as  upon  the  worker  hangs  always  heavily  the  fear  of 
lessened  income  as  the  result  of  sickness  or  death — of  jobless- 
ness. His  abilities  and  his  savings  lessen  the  fear,  of  course, 
but  do  not  by  any  means  eliminate  it. 

Most  of  the  difference,  then,  consists,  not  in  his  being  in  the 
group  of  management,  but  in  the  size  of  his  margin  of  security 
and  safety — a  margin  given  him  by  his  closer  connection  with 
those  who  give  the  job — or  take  it  away — and  by  the  larger  sav- 
ings and  assurances  which  his  larger  education  and  earnings 
permit.  In  the  work  of  the  Cleveland  Welfare  Federation  we 
spent  large  sums  trying  to  get  the  people  of  the  city  to  under- 
stand that  the  community's  poor  were  not  a  fixed  group  or  class 
habitually  acting  from  abnormal  and  peculiar  motives  and  there- 
fore habitually  and  permanently  in  need  of  help.  It  is  this  dif- 
ference, not  of  human  material  but  of  educational  economic 
margin,  which  permits  some  to  save  themselves  while  others, 
encountering  the  same  obstacle  of  sickness  or  unemployment  are 
brought  down  to  the  need  of  temporary  help,  just  as  a  friend  of 
mine  reported :  "I'm  getting  old.  Ten  years  ago  I  could  stumble 
and  still  keep  going  for  fifteen  feet  at  least.  Now  a  stumble 
means  a  fall — without  doubt  and  without  delay." 

The  difference  is  in  the  margins  of  assurance,  opportunity 
and  living  in  general,  allowed  by  the  daily  or  weekly  wage  in- 
stead of  the  monthly  or  yearly  salary — it  is  this  that  gives  the 
reason  of  the  labor  gang's  intenser  and  more  necessitous  atti- 
tude toward  the  job,  rather  than  any  or  all  supposition  that  the 
gang  is  made  up  of  humans  possessing  different  interests  and 
therefore  wanting  satisfactions  entirely  different  from  the  rest 
of  us. 

During  the  long  hours  of  shovelling  bricks,  lifting  the  steel 
sheets  off  the  cold  rolls,  or  stencilling  the  "Regular  weights, 
there  now"  onto  the  barrel  heads,  it  was  often  a  problem  to 
know  what  to  do  with  one's  mind.  On  some  such  turns  I 


74  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

would  definitely  try  to  make  the  time  go  faster  by  picking  out 
some  particular  field  of  recollection  and  endeavoring,  hour 
after  hour,  to  "lick  the  chops  of  memory"  by  recalling  every 
impression  possible,  for  instance,  on  one  shift  from  my  travels 
in  Italy,  on  another  turn  Egypt  or  South  America.  At  other 
times  I  would  find  myself  swinging  my  body  in  rhythm  with 
the  movements  of  the  job  while  almost  chanting  to  myself:  "I 
wonder  if  anybody  could  ever  find  any  connection  between  this 
town's  evident  immoralities  and  some  of  the  plant's  evident  * 
dissatisfactions?"  "Is  there  any  connection  between  the  way 
people  earn  their  livings  and  the  way  they  live  their  lives? — and 
if  so,  do  bad  morals  cause  bad  jobs  or  bad  jobs  cause  bad/ 
morals,  or  both?"  As  becomes  a  father,  my  fondest  hope  is 
that  the  following  offspring  of  my  long-turn  ponderings  may 
prove  a  more  helpful  interpreter  of  our  modern  industrial  life 
and  all  its  human  units  than  that  offspring  of  the  philosophers 
which  ought  to  be  known  as  the  "economic  alibi." 

Suppose  we  start  at  what  might  be  called  our  "jumping-on" 
place  there  in  the  shining  land  of  "Get-up-in-the-morning,"  and 
draw  a  line  through  the  sixteen  waking  hours  of  our  day  to  the 
"jumping-off"  place  there  in  a  shadowy  land  of  "Go-to-bed-at- 
night."  Such  a  line  we  may  quite  properly  call  our  "western 
front"— at  least  it  represents  all  the  opportunity  we  have  for 
the  putting  forward  of  all  our  life's  campaigns,  whatever  and 
wherever  they  may  be.  Now  from  all  that  I  have  seen  or  heard 
all  kinds  of  human  beings  do  and  say,  it  is  safe  to  assert  that 
every  normal  person  possesses  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart  the 
desire  to  find  somewhere  along  this  front  the  satisfaction  that 
comes  with  the  consciousness  of  "breaking  through."  It  is 
impossible  to  conceive  of  any  one  who  would  pass  along  this 
front  day  after  day,  and  year  after  year,  without  getting  any- 
where some  feeling  that  he  is  making  progress — counting  as 
something  more  than  a  cipher  in  the  sum  total  of  humanity — 
and  be  therewith  content.  Such  a  person  is  pretty  sure  to  be 
proved  an  imbecile  or  a  fool — or  else  he  will  be  found  among 
the  unknown  derelicts  at  the  morgue. 

Now,  in  these  recent  days  of  unrest  and  commotion,  when 
fear  gives  birth  to  misunderstanding,  and  misunderstanding 
increases  the  brood  of  fear,  it  is  easy  for  all  of  us  to  believe 
that  the  man  who  is  too  far  off — up  the  line  or  down — for  us 
to  see  and  know  him,  will  not  be  satisfied  unless  his  "break- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  75 

through"  brings  him  into  the  manager's  or  the  autocrat's  or 
the  plutocrat's  chair  of  absolute  power  for  the  domination  of 
the  rest  of  us.  Yet  acquaintance  with  both  groups  is  sure  to 
convince  all  as  it  does  me  that  the  member  of  the  labor  gang 
is  no  more  truly  represented  as  the  father  of  such  an  extreme 
desire  than  is  the  capitalist — though  such  acquaintance  does 
show  that  each  is  willing  to  believe  the  other  not  only  capable 
of  such  a  desire,  but  happy  in  it.  It  is  immensely  truer  to  the 
actuality  to  believe  that  every  normal  person,  quite  apart  from 
his  particular  membership  in  this  group  or  that  in  the  industrial 
process,  is  moved  to  do  what  he  does  by  the  universal  itch  to 
feel  that  somewhere  on  his  life's  front  he  is  justifying  his 
existence  among  other  persons  by  "getting  on,"  doing  a  little 
better  than  merely  holding  on,  while  those  about  him  pass  along. 
In  this  feeling  all  of  us  find  quite  as  much  pleasure  in  beating 
our  own  previous  record  as  in  going  ahead  of  others.  The  main 
thing  is  the  sense  of  motion  and  progress.  When  the  "high 
spots"  of  the  "boss  roller"  or  the  "first  helper"  are  put  alongside 
of  the  successful  banker's  or  manufacturer's  it  is  odd  to  observe 
that  they  all  fit  into  practically  the  same  formula — each  is  a 
high  spot  because  it  serves  to  measure  their  progress  from  the 
point  where  they  started.  It  is  this  satisfaction  in  the  distance 
travelled  rather  than  in  the  point  arrived  at,  that  permits 
millions  of  us  to  have  our  separate,  individual  satisfactions 
without  wanting  to  crowd  each  other  out  of  the  pleasure  of  the 
same,  or  competing,  ultimate  destination.  .  . 

Altogether,  it  is  very  fortunate  that  the  great  majority  of  us 
take  much  more  satisfaction  in  passing  the  "flivvers"  of  our 
past,  or  the  truck  loads  of  our  slow-moving  associates,  than  we 
take  dissatisfaction  in  the  thought  of  the  limousines  still  ahead 
of  us  and  still  unpassed  on  the  road  of  life  and  progress.  All 
things  considered,  we  could  hardly  hope  for  progress  from  any- 
thing less  selfish  or  for  self-preservation  from  anything  less 
progressive. 

Now  I  am  convinced  that  the  daily  wage-worker  wants,  to  an 
even  greater  extent  than  the  rest  of  us,  to  find  his  high  spots 
and  locate  his  break-through  in  the  sector  of  his  job.  For  one 
thing,  the  narrowness  of  the  margin  between  the  daily  job  and 
the  daily  bread  means  that  what  he  does  in  the  hours  under 
the  plant  roof  determine  more  narrowly  what  he  may  do  else- 
where, than  does  the  nature  of  our  work  for  the  rest  of  us ;  and 


76  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

that  is  saying  a  great  deal,  for  in  a  world  built  on  jobs,  all  of 
us  must  adapt  ourselves  first  to  the  conditions  which  we  must 
meet  for  the  earning  of  our  living,  and  then,  with  what  we  have 
left  of  time  and  attitudes  and  interests,  set  about  the  living 
of  our  lives.  If  the  worker  is  still  on  the  long-hour  day,  all 
this  can  be  figured  out  in  minutes  to  make  plain  the  immense 
necessity  of  getting  the  utmost  of  personal  satisfactions  out  of 
his  working  time. 

That  means  that  the  worker  lives  and  moves  and  has  his 
being  there  on  the  job.  There  is  where  the  tire  of  his  life's 
wheel  meets  the  smooth  or  jagged  roadway  of  actuality.  But 
still  more  important  than  that,  he  finds  there  in  the  precise 
nature  of  his  job,  skilled  or  unskilled,  important  or  unimportant, 
and  in  the  relationships  it  provides,  the  most  important  means 
of  establishing  his  status  and  standing  as  a  man  and  a  citizen — 
and  the  status  and  standing  of  his  wife  and  children.  Thus  the 
oil-can  or  the  wrench  spells  progress  upward  from  the  shovel, 
quite  beyond  the  two-cents-hourly  income.  Thus,  too,  the  promo- 
tion out  of  the  gang  to  the  humblest  foremanship  is  certain  to 
mean  not  only  more  money  for  a  wider  margin  of  enjoyments  and 
securities,  but  also,  and  much  more  important,  the  envious 
congratulations  of  the  gang,  the  familiar  acceptance  as  a  comrade 
at  the  hands  of  others  heretofore  far  above  him,  and,  finally, 
those  gossipy  noddings  of  heads  at  the  club  or  the  lodge  which 
are  the  incense  burned  before  the  altars  of  progress  and  suc- 
cess. It  is  only  the  great  distance  of  most  of  us  from  such 
events  that  permits  us  to  miss  the  hugeness  of  these  steps  as 
they  appear  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  labor  gang.  It  is  this 
hugeness  that  causes  many  workers  to  lose  their  heads — certainly, 
at  least,  the  natural  size  of  their  heads — the  moment  they  find 
themselves  thus  elevated — and  so  perhaps  inclined  to  drive  their 
former  "buddies"  with  less  consideration  than  that  shown  by 
those  who  never  were  in  the  gang. 

Now  in  view  of  all  this,  the  most  fundamental  criticism  I 
know  how  to  make,  in  regard  to  the  present  industrial  situa- 
tion, is  this :  that  in  the  minds  of  so  many  members  of  the  labor 
gang,  and  also  of  higher  groups  of  workers,  there  is  so  wide- 
spread and  so  deep-set  a  conviction  that  for  them  there  is  no 
chance  to  break  through  on  their  industrial  sector. 

It  must  be  evident  to  those  who  have  read  this  diary  that 
while  the  matter  is  two-sided,  nevertheless,  considerably  more 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  77 

justification  than  could  be  wished  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  given 
that  conviction.  The  trouble — the  most  manifest  trouble  at  least 
— is  in  that  "first  line  of  defense"  which  is  maintained  there  at 
the  contact  points  on  the  line  by  industrial  management  in  the 
person  of  the  boss  or  foreman,  the  plant  guard  or  policeman, 
and  the  plant  paymaster  and  his  clerks.  If  the  break-through  is 
to  be  engineered  on  the  sector  of  the  job,  it  must  inevitably  be 
in  the  presence,  and  with  the  permission  and  recognition,  of  one 
or  more  of  these  representatives  of — and  of  parts  of — the  man- 
agement. Through  these  the  workers  must  get  those  daily 
demonstrations  of  the  plans  and  purposes  of  all  the  other  "lines." 
There  would  seem  to  be  no  way  by  which  management  can  avoid 
the  responsibility  for  whatever  impression  the  workers  gain  of 
its  performance  and  intentions  as  the  result  of  these  demonstra- 
tions— nor  any  effective  denial  that  that  impression  as  a  whole 
is  considerably  less  satisfactory  than  could  be  desired. 

Whether  justified  or  not,  this  conviction  that  on  this  sector 
no  satisfying  feeling  of  gain  or  progress  is  to  be  made  in  pro- 
portion to  effort  required — that  "pull"  and  the  marrying  of  the 
boss's  daughter  must  be  counted  on  for  getting  forward — pro- 
duces the  same  result  in  the  factory  as  it  would  on  the  fields  of 
France  and  Flanders.  When  Foch  or  Haig  became  convinced — 
rightly  or  wrongly — that  successful  pressure  could  not  be  hoped 
for,  strategy,  and  the  necessity  to  keep  moving,  required,  of 
course,  the  transfer  of  effort  to  another  sector.  So  today,  when 
the  worker  becomes,  in  any  way,  convinced  as  the  result  of  a 
few  deadly  demonstrations,  that  employers  as  a  group  are  un- 
willing or  unable  to  reward  initiative,  loyalty,  and  skill,  he 
changes  his  tactics.  Leaving  behind  just  enough  energy  and 
skill  to  keep  "the  enemy"  from  "breaking  through"  and  dis- 
charging him — and  he's  a  wonderful  judge  of  the  precise  amount 
needed  for  that  purpose — he  withdraws  the  reserves  of  his  in- 
terests and  enthusiasms  for  more  effective  and  worth-while  ap- 
plication elsewhere. 

Like  all  the  rest  of  us,  the  worker,  it  is  worth  repeating,  car- 
ries into  the  other  sectors  of  his  living  the  equipment  he  is  able 
to  take  out  of  his  job.  So  here  again  he  suffers  from  the  nar- 
rowness of  his  margins.  If  he  is  untrained  he  must  daily  put 
a  larger  proportion  of  his  entire  physical  equipment — in  his  case, 
his  entire  capital — into  his  daily  givings  for  the  benefit  of  the 
needed  daily  gettings  of  the  family's  food  than  do  the  most  of 


;8  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

us.  Unskilled,  skilled,  or  semi-skilled,  does  he  make  iron  or 
steel,  the  chances  are  that  he  must  put  in  an  average  of  twelve  of 
those  sixteen  waking  hours — with,  in  most  cases,  an  additional 
hour  and  a  half  or  two  to  go  and  come. 

The  result  is  not  favorable  to  such  a  worker's  finding  in,  say, 
the  sector  of  his  home,  the  sought-for  satisfactions  of  forward 
movement  and  distinction.  That  is  certainly  evident  from  the 
most  casual  reading  of  the  foregoing  pages. 

Over  in  the  sector  of  his  relationships  as  a  citizen,  similarly, 
many  a  worker  can  take  only  a  depleted  physique  and  an  un- 
satisfied hope.  Some,  however,  do  "stand  the  gaff"  of  even  the 
hardest  work  and,  perhaps  with  the  help  of  a  sense  of  humor  or 
a  determined  will,  endeavor  here  to  find  the  distinction  of  lead- 
ing those  around  them.  I  am  quite  sure  that  these  are  often  the 
men  whose  manifest  ability  to  influence  others  comes  to  the  at- 
tention of  the  all  too  common  plant  detective  or  "under-cover 
man" — with  the  result  that  they  may  be  reported  as  potentially 
dangerous  workers.  In  too  many  instances  such  a  report  is 
likely  to  lead  to  the  "planting"  of,  say,  a  bottle  of  whiskey  in 
the  man's  clothes,  with  the  later  discovery  of  it  by  the  secret 
planter,  who  in  horror  at  such  outrageous  breaking  of  the  plant 
rules,  lands  the  offender  on  the  street,  jobless  and  sore,  ready 
to  believe  that  his  manhood  requires  his  personal  direction  of 
a  continuous  war  against  the  industrial  and  economic  arrange- 
ments which  permit  such  injustice.  I  have  reason  to  believe 
that  such  men  are  not  happy  in  their  capacity  as  leaders  of  the 
war — that  they  would  be  enormously  happier  if  they  could  find 
there  in  the  plant  and  on  the  job  the  opportunity  to  enjoy  the 
sense  of  constructive  leadership — which,  of  course,  remains  un- 
attainable until  the  hurt  that  honor  feels  has  been  assuaged.  It 
is  strange  that  so  many  managers  who  themselves  get  great 
pleasure  from  their  membership  in  some  committee  of  the  local 
Chamber  of  Commerce  find  it  so  difficult  to  understand  the  wish 
of  some  of  the  workers  to  enjoy  similar  distinction  in  their 
world  under  the  plant  roof. 

Into  the  final  sector  of  their  miscellaneous  relations  as  a 
person  come  great  numbers  of  workers  who  realize  their  posi- 
tion at  the  base  of  modern  industry,  yet  who  have  found 
nowhere  else  in  home  or  club  or  lodge  any  milestone  of  distance 
travelled  from  the  starting  point  of  personal  insignificance.  Here 
is  their  final  chance.  Of  such  men  their  profanity,  I  am 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  79 

persuaded,  is  intended  to  convince  their  hearers  that  they  them- 
selves remain  unconvinced  of  the  inferiority  which  their  present 
job  may  indicate — in  much  the  same  way  that  a  child  assures 
you  of  his  "I  don't  care,  I  don't  care"  when  his  toys  are  taken 
from  him.  In  addition,  he  can  hope  for  a  certain  distinction 
among  his  pals  by  giving  the  requisite  attention  to  the  luridness 
and  daring  of  his  blasphemies.  Of  such  men,  too,  their  boastings 
of  their  "fifteen,  sixteen  w'iskee-beer"  are  also  calculated  to  im- 
press themselves  and  their  friends  with  the  remarkable  carrying 
and  staying  powers  of  their  physical  manliness.  For  many, 
further,  the  certainty  with  which  drunken  ears  are  able  to  hear 
the  assurances  of  their  owner's  achievements,  past,  present,  or 
future,  makes  it  worth  while  to  indulge  in  the  cup  which  con- 
gratulates as  well  as  inebriates — congratulates  because  it  inebri- 
ates. The  old  machinist  who  used  the  bartender's  dispensations  to 
"get  the  feeling  of  my  old  position  back  like,  you  know,"  and 
the  melter  in  the  western  steel  town  for  whom  the  "hard  stuff" 
almost  instantly  recalled  the  days  when  he  was  discharged  be- 
cause "the  boss  knowed  I  knowed  more'n  a  minute  about  steel 
than  he  did  in  a  month,"  as  well  as  the  hobo  who  used  his 
whisky  as  protection  against  the  bugs  and  flies — all  these  and 
others  support,  sorely,  this  proposition  that  the  worker's  bottom- 
most desire  is  to  find  the  chief  basis  of  his  belief  in  himself 
there  in  his  work,  and  that,  failing  this,  he  endeavors  in  all  the 
other  parts  of  his  living  to  make  the  necessary  adjustments. 


THE  FUTURE  OF  INDUSTRY 1 

i  Looking  to  the  future  of  industry,  if  we  want  to  avoid 
constant  difficulty,  constant  friction,  constant  unrest,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  we  should  take  account  of  the  intellectual  ferment 
which  is  working  in  the  minds  of  the  industrial  masses^  I  have 
been  interested  in  observing  the  way  in  which  the  American 
employer  is  meeting  the  situation.  In  the  course  of  a  fairly 
intensive  investigation  of  American  industrial  methods  during 
the  last  two  months  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  funda- 
mentally he  deals  with  the  same  problems  which  we  have  in 
England,  though  superficially  there  are  many  differences.  I  have 

1  B.  Seebohm  Rowntree.  Substance  of  an  address  delivered  at  a 
dinner  of  Survey  Associates,  in  New  York,  November  16.  Reprinted  from 
Survey.  December  3,  1921.  p.  362. 


cSo  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

such  an  admiration  for  the  intelligence  shown  by  the  American 
employer  that  I  hope  if  I  say  any  word  at  all  in  the  direction 
of  criticism  it  will  not  be  regarded  as  dogmatic  assertion  of 
a  considered  judgment  but  merely  the  reflection  of  a  passing 
traveler.  What  I  find  is  that  when  he  is  dealing  with  material 
problems,\^the  American  employer  is  extraordinarily  alert  and 
scientific.  He  is  far  more  on  his  toes — he  has  more  "pep,"  to 
use  the  American  expression,  than  the  British  employer.  But 
somehow,  when  he  comes  to  deal  with  the  human  factor  in 
industry,  he  seems  to  lose  that  wonderful  slight-of-hand  and 
scientific  accuracy  of  action  which  marks  him  when  he  is  dealing 
with  administrative  and  material  problems.  He  seems  to  me  to 
descend  altogether  to  a  lower  level.  He  does  not  approach,  it 
seems  to  me,  the  human  problems  connected  with  industry  with 
the  same  ability  with  which  he  approaches  the  material  problems^ 
I  do  not  say  that  he  is  approaching  them  any  less  ably  than  we 
are  in  Britain ;  but  whereas  he  is  streets  ahead  of  us  in  the 
way  in  which  he  administers  his  business  and  in  the  way  in 
which  he  applies  science  to  the  solution  of  his  material  problems, 
I  do  not  think  that  he  is  so  far  ahead  of  us  in  the  way  in 
which  he  is  dealing  with  the  human  problems, 
^^^bviously  when  I  speak  of  the  American  employer,  there 
are  very  brilliant  exceptions.  \  I  have  learned  a  great  deal  of 
how  to  deal  with  labor  problems  from  a  number  of  American 
employers.  In  general,  however,  if  the  American  employer  is 
kindly  disposed,  he  seems  to  me  to  favor  action  which  I  can  only 
describe  as  paternalistic.  He  seems  to  adopt  the  attitude :  These 
workmen  are  nice  fellows ;  I  will  do  nice,  kind  things  to  them. 
His  is  just  a  little  the  spirit  of  the  English  squire  who  distributes 
soup  and  blankets  to  the  villagers  at  Christmas.  And  so  you 
get  a  good  deal  of  welfare  work.  Having  been  the  director  of 
the  Welfare  Department  in  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  respon- 
sible for  three  or  four  thousand  factories,  I  am  not  likely  to 
belittle  welfare  work.  But  to  my  mind  true  welfare  begins 
with  the  provision  of  working  conditions  which  are  funda- 
mentally just  in  the  recognition  of  the  human  rights  of  the 
workers. 

There  is  another  kind  of  employer  whom  I  regard  as  a  great 
danger,  whether  you  find  him  in  America  or  in  England — you 
can  find  him  in  both  countries — and  that  is  \the  short-sighted 
person  who  seeks  to  take  advantage  of  the  present  economic 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  81 

and  industrial  situation  in  order  to  keep  the  worker  in  his  place, 
as  he  expresses  it — in  order  to  get  hold  of  the  worker  by  the 
throat.  He  says :  "During  the  war  the  worker  was  on  top.  Now 
I  am  on  top  and  I  am  going  to  stay  there  as  long  as  I  possibly 
can."  That  man  is  a  revolutionary.  That  man  is  playing  into 
the  hands  of  extremists;  he  is  the  greatest  enemy  to  real  prog- 
ress in  the  state. 

|^0n  the  other  hand,  I  find  here,  just  as  in  England,  an  absence 
of  that  quiet,  calm,  patient,  scientific  inquiry  into  the  whole 
industrial  structure  and  into  the  causes  of  unrest  which  is  the 
only  real  way  of  getting  rid  of  unrest  because  it  removes  its 
causes.  If  a  steel  merchant  is  receiving  ores  from  different 
parts  of  the  country,  I  imagine  he  will  find  that  there  are  certain 
differences  in  these  ores  and  that,  in  order  to  obtain  a  steel  of 
a  certain  quality,  each  variety  of  ore  must  be  treated  rather 
differently.  If  he  wishes  to  manufacture  a  certain  standard  of 
steel,  he  finds  that  he  has  to  make  sometimes  radical,  sometimes 
slight  changes  in  the  way  in  which  he  treats  different  kinds 
of  ore  in  order  to  obtain  the  desired  result.  If  he  gets  a  new 
kind  of  ore,  or  if  a  shipment  of  ore  does  not  give  him  the 
reaction  that  he  wants,  he  does  not  get  in  a  temper  with  it ;  he 
does  not  say,  "What  stupid  ore  this  is."  He  recognizes  that  it 
is  up  to  him  and  not  up  to  the  ore  so  to  alter  and  adapt  his 
methods  as  to  obtain  the  reaction  that  he  desires.  He  never 
talks  about  ore  "in  the  mass" ;  he  talks  about  ore  from  this  mine, 
from  that  mine  and  the  other  mine.  His  treatment  is  entirely 
scientific.  But  you  will  find  that  man  talking  about  labor  in 
the  mass,  attempting,  for  instance,  to  treat  his  Lithuanian,  his 
German,  his  Pole,  his  Italian,  his  American  all  in  the  same  way. 
And  yet  he  expects  to  get  a  satisfactory  reaction.  That  is  quite  ^ 
unscientific.  We  employers  are  really  a  very  unimaginative  lot 
of  people;  we  have  very  little  vision. 

We  have  got  to  tackle  this  problem  of  industrial  unrest  in 
a  thoroughly  calm,  scientific  spirit,  recognizing  that  we  are 
entering  upon  a  world  with  a  psychology  different  from  that 
which  existed  in  1913.  Men  everywhere  are  demanding  better 
conditions,  and  it  is  up  to  us  to  see  whether  we  can  grant  them. 
Therefore,  let  us  approach  the  problem  of  how  to  get  rid 
of  industrial  unrest  by  a  quiet  examination  of  the  causes  which 
give  rise  to  it  and  let  us  get  rid  of  all  pre-conceived  notions; 
let  us  try  to  enter  upon  that  examination  just  as  a  chemist 


82  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

would  enter  upon  the  solution  of  some  difficult  chemical  problem, 
willing  to  do  what  is  necessary;  first  of  all  to  diagnose  the 
problem  and,  second,  to  make  a  report  upon  it,  purely  in  accord- 
ance with  the  facts  as  they  were  found,  without  any  prejudice. 

I  believe  that  the  right  action  for  us  employers  is  to  examine 
the  existing  condition  of  industry  on  the  assumption  that  industry 
continues  on  its  present  basis.  A  number  of  people  are  so 
dissatisfied  with  conditions  in  industry  as  they  exist  today  that 
they  are  devoting  the  whole  of  their  efforts  to  attempts  to  alter 
the  system  of  industry — to  replace  the  capitalist  system  by  some 
other.  I  do  not  think  that  the  capitalist  system  of  industry  has 
ever  had  a  really  fair  trial;  the  capitalist  has  always  abused  it. 
It  holds  in  it  the  possibility  of  far  better  industrial  conditions 
than  have  yet  been  obtained.  The  following  statement  of  what, 
I  think,  may  be  regarded  as  the  aims  of  industry  has  been 
written  on  the  minutes  of  a  board  of  directors  in  capitalistic 
industry  in  England,  a  board  that  is  definitely  trying  to  work 
toward  the  achievement  of  those  aims. 

1.  Industry    should    create    goods   or   provide    services    of   such   kinds, 
and  in  such  measure,  as  may  be  beneficial  to  the  community. 

2.  In  the  process  of  wealth  production,  industry  should  pay  the  great- 
est possible  regard  to  the   general   welfare   of  the   community,    and  pursue 
no    policy    detrimental    to    it. 

3.  Industry  should  distribute  the   wealth   produced   in  such   a  manner 
as    will   best  serve    the   highest   ends   of   the   community. 

I  believe  it  is  possible  for  men  engaged  in  capitalist  industry 
to  work  conscientiously  and  steadily  toward  achievement  of 
these  aims.  But  the  elimination  of  unrest  must  be  paid  for. 
The  price  may  be  stated  under  five  headings:  wages,  hours, 
security,  status  and  a  share  in  profits. 

The  payment  of  minimum  wages  which  will  enable  all  men 
of  normal  ability  to  live  in  accordance  with  the  standard  suited 
to  a  civilized  industrial  community  in  the  Twentieth  Century 
comes  first.  America  is  much  nearer  the  attainment  of  that 
object  than  is  England.  Your  standard  of  living  is  higher  than 
ours.  I  have  learned  something  during  the  last  few  months  as 
to  the  reasons  for  that.  To  a  certain  extent  you  are  living  on 
your  capital.  There  are  other  reasons  why  your  standard  of 
living  is  higher.  Your  employers  are  better  administrators,  more 
alert  than  we  are  in  England.  But  if  the  workingman  once  felt 
that  the  employer  himself  was  seeking  without  pressure  from 
the  workers  to  raise  his  standard  of  wage,  if  that  be  necessary, 
in  order  to  enable  the  workers  to  live  in  accordance  with  the 
reasonable  standard,  it  would  make  an  enormous  difference.  We 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  83 

are  short-sighted  in  always  waiting  for  the  workers  to  wring 
from  us  an  advance  in  salary.  We  ought  to  know  what  salary 
is  necessary  to  live  in  accordance  with  a  decent  standard.  To 
bring  salaries  to  that  level  cannot  always  be  done  in  a  day;  i't 
may  take  years  of  improved  administration. 
\_Hours  in  our  factories  should  be  only  so  long  that  the  men 
may  have  a  reasonable  opportunity  for  the  recreation  of  their 
vital  energies  and  adequate  expression  of  their  personalities.^ 
Forty-eight  hours  is  a  reasonable  standard  and  if  you  deviate 
from  that  either  upward  or  downward  the  deviation  ought  to 
be  justified  by  the  special  circumstances  of  the  case. 

The  third  item  is  the  most  important  in  this  country;  that 
we  give  the  workers  reasonable  economic  security.  I  have  said 
that  we  employers  have  very  little  imagination.  If  we  had 
imagination,  we  should  have  solved  the  problem  of  unemployment 
long  ago.  If  we  could  visualize  the  suffering  due  to  unemploy- 
ment, the  discouragement  of  mankind,  the  demoralization,  the 
lowering  of  morale,  we  should  have  said  long  ago  this  evil  must 
cease.  But  we  regard  the  evil  of  unemployment  with  almost 
complete  indifference.  Occasionally  we  flutter  into  a  little  interest 
in  this  subject  when  a  great  crisis  occurs.  There  is  a  very  slight 
interest  in  the  matter  in  America  just  now  because  you  have 
three  or  four  or  five  million  people  unemployed.  You  do  not 
even  know  within  50  per  cent  how  many  there  are.  You  really 
do  not  know  whether  you  have  three  or  four  or  five  million. 
The  fact  that  there  are  no  reliable  unemployment  statistics 
anywhere  in  the  world  is  an  indication  that  we  do  not  actually 
regard  the  matter  very  seriously.  It  seems  to  me  a  duty  incum- 
bent upon  the  community  as  a  whole  to  eliminate  the  evil  of 
unemployment,  and  it  can  do  so  in  two  ways :  first  of  all  by 
•lessening  the  volume  of  unemployment.  There  is  no  single  cure 
for  it,  but  there  are  a  great  number  of  steps  which  might  be 
taken,  each  one  of  which  would  bring  us  a  little  nearer  to  the 
solution  df  the  problem.  After  we  have  done  all  we  can  in  that 
direction,  however,  there  will  still  remain  a  considerable  unem- 
ployment problem,  and  the  only  way  to  deal  with  that  is  by 
unemployment  insurance. 

Since  I  have  come  to  America  I  have  heard  the  most  extra- 
ordinary statements  about  the  terrible  results  in  England  of 
our  Unemployment  Insurance  Act.  Of  course,  to  any  one  living 
in  England  and  knowing  the  facts  these  stories  are  rather 
amusing.  They  indicate  how  inadequate  is  the  information  which 


84  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

passes  from  one  great  country  to  another.  They  are,  however, 
quite  misleading.  Up  to  the  year  1920  we  had  insured  against 
unemployment  four  million  people  from  the  shipbuilding,  engi- 
neering and  building  trades.  In  that  year  an  act  was  passed 
including  in  its  scope  all  of  the  manual  workers  and  all  other 
workers  whose  wages  were  not  over  £250  a  year.  That  added 
eight  million  people  to  the  number  of  those  previously  insured. 
It  is  obvious  that  if  you  suddenly  treble  the  number  of  people 
who  are  insured,  and  do  this  just  on  the  verge  of  a  great  indus- 
trial crisis,  you  are  not  going  to  have  the  machine  working 
perfectly  smoothly.  You  have  not  set  up  your  administrative 
checks,  and  so  you  get  a  certain  amount  of  abuse.  I  feel  safe 
in  saying  that,  on  the  whole,  the  effect  of  the  Unemployment 
Insurance  Act  is  good;  that  very  serious  consequences  might 
have  occurred  had  we  not  had  that  act  in  operation.  I  feel  it 
is  absolutely  essential,  if  we  are  to  get  industrial  peace,  that  we 
should  remove  from  the  minds  of  the  workers  the  menace  of 
unemployment.  Give  them  work  if  you  can,  but  where  you 
can't,  provide  maintenance.  It  is  said  sometimes,  "That  is  an 
unwise  thing  to  do;  it  will  demoralize  the  workers  if  they  are 
paid  for  not  working."  I  am  drawing  a  director's  salary  while 
I  am  playing  here,  talking  and  visiting  factories.  I  am  not 
working ;  but  I  am  not  demoralized.  Where  you  deal  with  mental 
workers,  you  do  not  say  they  will  be  demoralized  if  for  a  time 
their  services  are  not  required.  What  is  there  so  absolutely 
different  in  the  psychological  make-up  of  the  man  who  happens 
to  be  paid  a  weekly  wage  and  the  clerk  who  is  paid  a  monthly 
salary? 

Is  this  unemployment  insurance  financially  possible?  I  am 
not  going  into  a  detailed  argument.  I  would  suggest  as  a  figure 
which  is  probably  correct — I  think  it  is  correct  for  England 
and  not  very  far  out  for  America — that  if  you  were  to  find  a 
sum  equivalent  to  3^  per  cent  on  your  wage  bill,  it  would  be 
sufficient  to  enable  you  forever  to  remove  the  menace  of  unem- 
ployment from  every  worker  in  the  land.  You  could  secure 
with  that  3^2  per  cent  a  sum  which  would  provide  unemployment 
insurance  not  equal  in  amount  to  a  man's  earnings,  but  sufficiently 
large  to  remove  the  fear  of  hunger,  of  cold,  of  suffering  when 
a  man  is  out  of  work.-^Surely  if  it  is  necessary,  if  it  is  essential 
for  the  functioning  of  industry  that  there  shall  be  a  reserve 
of  workers,  it  is  up  to  industry  to  maintain  those  workers  during 
such  a  period  of  time  as  their  services  are  not  required.  We  shall 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  85 

never  have  industrial  peace  until  we  do  this/^We  are  trying  to 
deal  with  this  in  England :  the  nation  on  a  small  scale,  the  trade 
unions  with  supplementary  unemployment  funds,  and  a  number 
of  employers  with  further  supplementary  funds. 

In  our  factory,  the  unemployed  get  one-half  of  their  wage; 
if  they  are  married,  60  per  cent;  if  they  are  married  and  have 
children,  75  per  cent.  We  find  that  that  has  removed  the 
menace  of  unemployment ;  that  the  men  are  not  demoralized ; 
that  they  do  not  want  to  be  out  of  work.  They  are  anxious 
to  come  back  to  work.  What  does  it  cost  us?  In  addition  to 
contributions  to  the  national  fund  and  to  sums  voluntarily  con- 
tributed by  the  workers  it  costs  us  i  per  cent  of  our  wage  bill. 
To  remove  the  menace  of  unemployment  from  our  men  that  is 
not  a  big  sum.  If  it  Were  not  for  the  national  fund,  we  should 
have  to  pay  3^2  per  cent.  If  the  employer  found  the  whole  sum, 
it  would,  of  course,  pass  on  in  time  either  to  the  workers  or  to 
the  consumers.  Psychologically,  it  is  better  that  the  worker 
should  share,  though  economically  it  comes  very  much  to  the 
same  thing  whether  he  does  so  or  not. 

As  regards  the  status  of  the  worker,  I  see  just  the  same 
thing  here  that  we  find  in  England,  that  the  worker  resents 
the  continuance  of  that  condition  in  which  he  is  regarded  as  a 
servant  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  "master."  We  talk  about 
master  and  man.  Why  master?  We  have  always  talked  about 
masters  and  men,  when  we  don't  call  them  "hands."  But  why 
master?  Take  your  capitalist.  He  has  got  ten  million  dollars. 
It  is  in  bills.  He  can't  eat  it.  He  can't  dress  in  it.  He  can't 
live  in  it.  It  is  just  so  much  rubbish.  Here  you  have  your 
workers.  Each  one  has  a  pair  of  hands.  They  have  a  certain 
craft,  skill.  It  is  only  when  the  capitalist  and  the  workers  come 
together,  when  they  cooperate,  that  you  get  production.  But 
why  should  the  man  who  happens  to  have  the  capital  always 
be  the  master  and  the  other  man  the  servant?  Why  not  coop- 
erate? The  bulk  of  the  workers  say,  "We  do  not  want  to  bother 
about  the  financial  side  or  the  commercial  side  of  your  business, 
but  we  desire  to  have  a  say  in  determining  the  conditions  under 
which  we  shall  work."  That  is  a  reasonable  proposition. 

We  are  not  going  to  get  real  cooperation  between  capital 
and  labor  arid  so  long  as  the  wage-earner  is  working,  after  he 
has  received  his  flat  rate  wage  of  so  much  a  day,  to  increase  the 
dividends  of  a  shareholder  whom  he  does  not  know  and  whose 
face  he  has  never  seen.  He  says,  "Why  should  I  work  harder 


86  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

than  is  necessary  to  hold  my  job?  Why  should  I  put  myself 
out  just  to  increase  the  profits  of  some  of  your  bondholders?" 
I  have  no  answer  to  that  question.  Often  I  can  persuade  him 
to  do  it;  but  my  position  is  illogical.  Employers  must  try  to 
place  themselves  in  a  position  which  is  impregnable.  Industry 
cannot  be  conducted  without  profit.  We  must  make  sufficient 
return  on  capital  to  enable  us  to  secure  all  that  is  required  for 
the  full  development  of  the  business.  After  that,  any  further 
profit  is  surplus  profit,  and  I  do  not  think  it  is  unfair  that  it 
should  be  divided  with  the  workers  "fifty-fifty." 

Those  are  my  five  points.  I  believe  that  if  we  employers 
will  grant  those  five  points  we  can  get  industrial  peace. 

One  other  comment.  I  cannot  help  thinking,  and  I  speak 
with  great  diffidence,  that  the  American  employer  in  fighting 
the  unions  is  making  a  mistake.  I  think  he  is  fighting  a  losing 
battle.  As  I  see  him  here,  I  am  reminded  of  our  condition  thirty 
years  ago  when  we  were  engaged  in  the  same  struggle.  We  tried 
to  crush  the  unions,  and  we  had  a  long  and  bitter  struggle  with 
them.  But  democracy  was  on  their  side  and  democracy  won. 
And  after  we  were  defeated,  after  we  ceased  to  fight,  after  we 
expressed  our  willingness,  not  through  any  virtue  or  grace,  but 
through  the  influence  of  force  majeure,  we  suddenly  found  that 
we  had  won  the  battle  and  not  lost  it.  The  unions  withdrew 
their  fighting  men  and  replaced  them  with  diplomats:  men  like 
Clynes,  Thomas,  Hodges  and  a  number  of  others.  They  are 
learning  that  their  old  policy  of  restriction  of  output  was  a 
mistake,  and  they  are  now  coming  to  our  side  and  are  cooper- 
ating with  us  in  increasing  production.  We  find  that  we  can 
work  in  perfect  amity  with  the  unions,  though  we  do  not  by  any 
means  always  agree  or  give  way  to  their  demands. 

In  the  future,  the  great  industrial  administrator  will  be  a 
leader  of  men.  One  cannot  drive  a  free  people.  We  industrial 
administrators,  if  we  have  not  already  acquired  it,  must  learn 
the  art  of  leadership.  We  must  learn  to  know  our  men ;  one 
cannot  lead  men  one  does  not  know.  May  I  conclude  by  recalling 
these  words  of  Tolstoi : 

It  all  lies  in  the  fact  that  men  think  there  are  circumstances  when 
one  may  deal  with  human  beings  without  love,  and  there  are  no  such 
circumstances.  One  may  deal  with  things  without  love;  one  may  cut  down 
trees,  make  bricks,  hammer  iron  without  love.  But  you  cannot  deal  with 
men  without  it  just  as  you  cannot  deal  with  bees  without  being  careful. 
If  you  deal  carelessly  with  bees,  you  will  injure  them  and  will  yourselves 
bo  injured.  And  so  with  men. 


IV.  SATISFIED  INSTINCTS  THE  BASIS 
OF  INDUSTRIAL  EFFICIENCY 

Men  are  bundles  of  instinctive  energies;  balked,  they  lead 
to  malignant  disorders;  satisfied,  they  lead  to  industrial  effi- 
ciency. The  task  of  economic  statesmanship  is  to  discover  safe 
and  sane  means  for  satisfying  the  basic  drives  of  human  nature 
in  the  day's  work.  A  great  many  means  of  satisfactory  expres- 
sion of  the  energies  of  human  nature  have  already  been  worked 
out;  many  others  remain  to  be  discovered. 

It  must  be  emphasized  repeatedly  that  the  placing  of  stress 
upon  the  instinctive  nature  of  man  does  not  detract  from  the 
importance  of  the  intellectual  and  rational  factors.  Far  from 
that,  it  adds  positive  stress  to  the  rational  factors  by  showing 
the  dynamic  force  behind  the  minds  of  men.  Reason  is  not  a 
mere  static  condition  of  the  mind ;  it  is  the  output  of  a  genuine 
instinct  of  curiosity  and  of  thought.  And  modern  psychology 
urges  no  proposition  more  strongly  than  that  the  workers  have 
a  vital  contribution  of  intelligence  to  make  to  industry,  and  that 
unless  they  are  encouraged  to  make  this  contribution,  one  of  the 
most  powerful  cravings  of  normal  human  nature  stands  thwarted 
and  repressed. 

Tead  speaks  of  the  instinctive  energies  as  being  "stubbornly 
insistent."  McDougall  declares:  "The  instinctive  impulses  de- 
termine the  ends  of  all  activities  and  supply  the  driving  power 
by  which  all  mental  activities  are  sustained."  James  referred  to 
an  instinct  as  "irresistible."  Simons  finds  instinct  "powerful  and 
essential."  Lippmann  warns  that  "only  by  supplying  our  pas- 
sions with  civilized  interests  can  we  escape  their  destructive 
force."  Parker  showed  the  necessity  of  giving  to  the  average 
man,  as  far  as  possible,  a  life  that  is  "psychologically  full." 
Modern  psychology  gives  large  recognition  to  the  dynamic  fea- 
tures of  human  nature,  and  to  the  importance  of  satisfying  to  a 
reasonable  degree  the  normal  human  longings. 

At  this  point,  a  precaution  is  necessary  to  avoid  misunder- 
standing. Psychology  makes  no  claim  that  whatever  any  man 


88  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

seeks  to  do  to  satisfy  human  nature,  should  be  allowed.  There 
is  no  room  for  the  accusation  that  psychology  would  encourage 
human  nature  to  run  riot  in  industry,  free  from  discipline  or 
order.  The  whole  force  of  the  ideas  of  psychology  is  concen- 
trated upon  the  need  for  organization  of  human  nature  and  in- 
dustry on  a  pattern  which  reserves  full  discipline  and  control. 
Repression  of  many  lustful  and  vicious  forms  of  expression  is 
indispensable.  Obedience,  conformity,  the  following  of  orders, 
rules  and  laws  are  unquestioned  features  of  industrial  organiza- 
tion. Discipline  is  not  undermined  or  menaced  by  the  principle  of 
satisfying  in  wholesome  and  efficient  forms  the  basic  human 
energies. 


BRINGING  OUT   SPONTANEOUS   INITIATIVE1 

When  men  feel  themselves  under  constraint,  when  they  cannot 
determine  and  direct  their  actions,  when  they  believe  that  their 
behavior  is  governed  by  forces  beyond  their  control,  when  they 
have  no  voice  in  settling  hours  of  work  and  compensation,  the 
instinct  of  self-assertion  revolts.  This  instinct  is  nature's  high 
explosive.  It  has  destroyed  monarchies.  It  is  the  essence  of 
democracy.  And  it  is  also  the  fundamental  cause  of  labor's 
resistance  to  the  present  industrial  system. 

The  issue,  however,  is  often  confused.  The  underlying 
racial  impulse  which  ignites  the  spark  of  conflict  is  hidden  in 
the  conflagration  that  follows.  The  explosive  ingredient  of 
self-assertion  is  not  easily  identified  as  the  unstable  element  in 
the  usually  peaceful  compound  of  democracy.  The  individual 
himself,  indeed,  is  usually  unaware  of  these  instinctive  impulses. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  of  psychology  that  a  man  first  acts 
instinctively,  and  then  finds  reasons  to  justify  his  actions.  And 
the  reasons  given  are  generally  suggested  by  the  exigencies  of 
the  moment.  Occasionally,  however,  in  more  thoughtful  moods, 
the  fundamental  impulse  is  revealed.  So  we  find  in  a  recent 
pronouncement  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  a  clear 
statement  of  the  issue.  "It  is  essential,"  the  program  says, 
"that  the  workers  should  have  a  voice  in  determining  the  laws 
within  industry  and  commerce  which  they  have  as  citizens  in 
determining  the  legislative  enactments  which  shall  govern  them." 

1  Edgar  James  Swift.  Instinct  and  Business.  Scribner's  Magazine. 
November,  1919.  p.  584-91.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.  New  York. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  89 

This  is  labor's  protest  against  government  without  representation. 
It  is  a  definite  demand  for  industrial  democracy.  .  . 

Human  nature  cannot  be  organized  out  of  men — not  even 
by  scientific  management.  There  is  always  danger  under 
mechanically  efficient  methods  of  increasing  human  costs  to  a 
degree  that  makes  mechanical  efficiency  too  expensive.  We  hear 
much  today  about  overhead  charges.  It  is  now  time  that  atten- 
tion be  given  to  inside-head  expenses. 

Managers  have  taken  account  of  the  various  factors  in 
production.  They  have  analyzed  and  itemized  the  elements  in 
the  job.  Under  scientific  management  they  find  the  right  man, 
give  him  the  right  tools,  and  teach  him  to  use  them  in  the  right 
way.  They  have  omitted  only  one  factor — human  nature.  Some 
day  we  shall  learn  that  the  fundamental  element  of  efficiency 
is  man  himself,  his  instincts  and  emotions.  An  efficient  organiza- 
tion will  then  be  found  to  be  one  that  builds  upon  these  instincts 
and,  instead  of  ignoring  them,  makes  them  allies  in  productive 
achievement. 

Consider  the  lack  of  insight  into  human  nature  in  the  rule 
of  one  authority  for  speeding  up.  "It  is  only  through  enforced 
standardization  of  methods,  enforced  adoption  of  the  best  imple- 
ments and  working  conditions,  and  enforced  cooperation  that 
this  faster  work  can  be  assured.  And  the  duty  of  enforcing  the 
adoption  of  standards  and  of  enforcing  this  cooperation  rests 
with  the  management."  That  sort  of  cooperation  does  not 
interest  workmen.  The  less  initiative,  judgment,  responsibility, 
and  intelligence  a  nian  has,  the  more  readily  will  he  fit  into  this 
enforced  adaptation.  Intelligence  has  the  inconvenient  habit  of 
occasionally  asserting  itself.  And  this  is  unpleasant  for  those 
who  claim  a  monopoly  of  this  gift. 

\_  Enforced  uniformity  in  methods  of  work — imitation,  routine 
— deaden  the  mind.  In  proportion  as  habits  are  acquired  intel- 
ligence lapses.  Initiative  is  lost,  and  the  number  of  men  fitted 
for  positions  of  responsibility  decreases.  Business  men  are 
continually  calling  for  young  men  of  initiative.  The  manager 
for  a  large  factory  recently  said  that  among  his  thousand 
employees  he  could  not  find  men  fitted  for  half  a  dozen  sub- 
ordinate chieftainships.  The  reason  is  that  the  employees  had 
been  trained  to  follow  directions.  Modern  business  has  become 
abnormally  centralized,  and  at  the.  center  stands  the  manager 
from  whom  all  intelligence  issues^  But  this  method  denies  a 
hereafter.  And  the  present  popularity  of  revolutions  shows  that 


'90  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

starving  the  brains  of  workingmen  is  a  terrible  social  menace. 
^Efficient  management  would  encourage .  initiative  so  as  to 
give  those  of  ability  a  chance  to  know  themselves.  It  would 
make  distinctions  by  finding  them.  Men  do  not  object  to  being 
taught;  they  do  not  oppose  being  directed.  But  they  always 
resist  an  uncooperative  relationship,  the  advantages  of  which 
they  think  are  weighted  against  them.*  This  suspicion  and  the 
practical  prohibition  of  initiative  has  greatly  reduced  the  pro- 
ductive value  of  wage  work.  The  resistance  of  employees  to  the 
present  system  of  employer  and  worker,  which  has  reached  its 
culmination  under  unscientific  "scientific  management,"  indicates 
a  wilful  desire  of  wage-earners  to  be  human  beingsA 

To  avoid  social  waste,  to  call  into  the  service  otthe  nation 
the  instinct  of  workmanship,  an  industrial  democracy  is  necessary. 
And  it  must  be  wholly  frank  and  open.  The  workmen  will 
accept  nothing  less.  This  is  no  time  for  "secret  treaties."  Enter- 
tainments, lectures,  and  welfare  organizations  are  of  the  greatest 
value.  But  they  will  not  fulfill  the  demands  of  industrial 
reconstruction.  Rather,  they  should  be  one  expression  of  the 
principle  of  cooperation  in  a  democracy.  They  do  not  buy 
bread  nor  pay  rent.  And  the  workers  are  conscious  today  of 
the  economic  side  of  labor. 

Industrial  democracy  frankly  and  ingenuously  carried  out 
satisfies  both  the  instinctive  and  economic  needs.  And  it  is 
not  merely  a  theory.  It  has  been  successfully  introduced  into 
a  few  plants  and  the  chief  reason  for  its  slow  adoption  is  the 
inertia  of  the  human  mind — the  unwillingness  to  break  com- 
pletely with  the  past,  the  adhesion  to  antiquated  notions  of 
business. 

Human  nature  is  much  the  same  in  all  ranks  of  men,  as  well 
as  in  the  old  and  young,  and  bonuses  awaken  interest  in  securing 
rewards  rather  than  in  improving  the  quality  of  the  work.  They 
do  not  arouse  creative  interest.  Business  men  have  found,  just 
as  teachers  learned  long  ago,  that  rewards  have  only  an  artificial 
relation  to  production.  They  do  not  maintain  an  alert  interest 
in  achievement.  Besides,  rewards  usually  awaken  suspicion.  - 
They  suggest  an  ulterior  purpose.  And  the  workers  are  not 
unaware  that  the  owners  receive  a  rather  generous  proportion 
of  the  profits  of  the  new  economies  and  efficiencies. 

Rewards  are  offered  in  factories  for  the  same  reason  that 
led  to  their  use  in  the  schools.  They  are  the  easiest  way  of 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  .91 

meeting  a  perplexing  situation.  It  is  characteristic  of  man,  when 
confronted  by  a  difficulty  that  must  be  overcome,  to  follow  the 
line  of  least  resistance  instead  of  profoundly  studying  the  prob- 
lem. Educators  have  learned  that  young  people  will  not  work  ^ 
efficiently  unless  they  appreciate  the  meaning  and  use  of  what 
they  are  doing  and  realize  its  value  for  themselves.  This  is  as 
true  of  adults  as  of  children.  But  employers,  when  compulsion 
failed,  resorted  to  fictitious  incentives  instead  of  developing  the 
creative  interest  in  workmanship.  Yet  this  interest  is  necessary 
if  the  work  is  to  be  done  efficiently.  And  the  workers  must  be 
convinced  that  the  improved  product  of  their  interest  will  benefit  • 
themselves  as  well  as  their  employers. 


FUNDAMENTAL  URGES  AND  DRIVES  x 

Manufacturers  and  other  employers  would  come  to  him 
(W.  B.  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Labor)  to  discuss  questions  of 
wages  and  hours,  and  he  would  always  courteously  discuss  these 
two  things  with  them.  After  the  interview  was  over,  however, 
and  these  manufacturers  had  left  the  room,  he  would  say: 

"Oh,  how  they  miss  the  point !  It's  not  wages  and  hours,  as 
such,  in  which  wage  earners  of  the  country  are  interested. 
Wages  and  hours  are  but  temporary  means  to  an  end.  Wage 
earners  are  no  different  from  the  rest  of  us.  We  are  all  actuated 
by  the  same  basic  motives.  The  three  great  words  of  life  are 
self-preservation,  self-reproduction  and  self-respect.  These  are 
fundamental  with  all  normal  \  persons,  whether  employers  or 
wage  workers.  Oh,  may  the  time  come  when  the  employer  will 
realize  that  it  is  not  wages  or  hours  that  the  wage  workers  are 
interested  in;  but  rather,  they  are  interested  in  self-preservation, 
self-reproduction  .and  self-respect!  When  employers  grasp  this 
fact,  and  so  arrange  industry  as  to  enable  the  wage  worker  to 
work  out  his  self-preservation,  self-reproduction  and  self-re- 
spect, then  the  question  of  wages  and  hours  will  solve  itself.  We 
talk  about  cooperation.  We  all  want  cooperation,  but  coopera- 
tion will  come  only  as  employer  and  wage  worker  unite  in  de- 
veloping means  whereby  both  shall  have  and  enjoy  self-preser- 
vation, self-reproduction  and  self-respect." 

1  Roger  W.  Babson.  W.  B.  Wilson  and  the  Department  of  Labor, 
p.  72.  Quotation  from  Secretary  Wilson.  Brentano's.  New  York.  1017. 


92  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

PRACTICAL    STEPS    TOWARD    ENLISTING 
WORKERS'  COOPERATION1 

Employee  representation  in  or  cooperation  with  management 
is  a  sound  enough  principle,  provided  it  is  worked  out  intelli- 
.  gently  in  practice.  The  great  need  in  industry  is  to  get  men  and 
management  close  together— it  is  the  most  necessary  undertak- 
ing. 

There  are  certain  dangers  as  well  as  certain  plain  advantages, 
in  these  plans.  The  workingmen  are  immediately  interested  in 
questions  of  wages,  hours,  housing,  sanitary  conditions  in  the 
shop,  and  in  anything  that  tends  to  effect  either  their  comfort 
or  the  productivity  of  their  labor.  They  not  merely  have  an 
interest,  but  in  many  cases  are  entirely  competent  to  speak  with 
a  high  degree  of  real  knowledge.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
a  large  proportion  of  the  inventions  for  the  improvement  of 
industrial  processes  have  come  from  workmen  who  in  their  daily 
experience  and  by  the  cooperation  of  their  fellows  are  able  to 
obtain  suggestions  for  devices  that  are  likely  to  cut  corners  and 
lessen  costs.  If  the  workmen  feel  that  they  themselves  are  likely 
to  benefit  by  improvements,  improvements  will  be  devised. 

As  a  rule  the  average  workingman  has  little  interest  in  or 
knowledge  of  the  broad  questions  of  finance,  how  to  secure 
credit,  how  to  determine  the  best  method  of  payment  for  the 
sales  of  the  product,  and  so  on.  Thoughtful  leaders  of  labor 
recognize  this  limitation  and  disapprove  plans  which  place  on  the 
employee  responsibilities  of  management  beyond  the  matters 
already  mentioned,  matters,  that  is,  in  which  they  are  directly 
interested  and  on  which  they  are  entirely  competent  to  speak. 

Nevertheless  it  is  my  opinion  that  among  the  measures  to 
prevent  strikes,  first  consideration  should  be  given  to  proposals 
which  seek  to  reestablish  cordial  and  cooperative  relations  be- 
tween men  and  management.  .  . 

Through  this  method  of  group  action  and  discussion  the  em- 
ployees gradually  come  to  feel  that  they  are  a  real  and  vital  part 
of  the  institution  and  that  the  success  of  the  whole  institution 
depends  on  the  way  in  which  they  do  their  work  and  the  atti- 
tude which  they  display  toward  their  work.  Each  employee  has 

1  John  Hays  Hammond.  Strikes — How  to  Avoid  Them.  Industrial 
Management.  February  i,  1921.  p.  82-3,  83-4. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  93 

concrete  evidence  of  the  fact  that  he  is  a  participant  not  only 
in  the  success  of  his  concern  when  a  dividend  is  not  made,  but 
that  he  has  a  definite  channel  of  expression  and  may  make  sug- 
gestions tending  to  improve  not  only  his  own  condition  but  that 
of  his  fellows. 

All  this  is  nothing  more  than  a  logical  extension  of  collective 
bargaining.  I  am  one  of  those  who  are  thoroughly  committed 
to  the  principle  of  collective  bargaining.  As  I  see  it,  one  of 
the  obstacles  to  this  kind  of  relationship  is  the  fact  that  in  many 
cases  the  local  manager — who  is  not  an  owner  of  the  business — 
has  not  the  authority  to  deal  with  employees  as  he  knows  they 
should  be  dealt  with.  Absentee  management,  like  absentee  land- 
lordism, is  evil,  and  I  like  to  believe  that  both  are  passing  out  of 
fashion.  If  we  are  ever  to  get  out  of  the  present  phase  of  the 
labor  situation  in  which,  to  a  very  large  extent,  labor  is  an- 
tagonistic to  capital  and  capital  feels  that  it  must  regard  labor 
as  a  sworn  enemy,  we  must  have  collective  bargaining. 
The  soviet  in  Russia  is  nothing  but  a  crude  attempt  on 
the  part  of  workingmen  to  take  into  their  own  hands 
power  which  now  belongs  to  the  owners  of  business  alone,  but 
which  should  be  shared,  so  far  as  the  technical  processes  and 
the  things  about  which  the  employee  knows,  between  the  work- 
ingmen and  the  owners  of  business.  I  cannot  believe  that  the 
soviet  idea  has  made  the  headway  in  the  United  States  which 
some  seem  to  fear.  But  if  it  has,  the  remedy  is  not  to  shut  the 
door  of  management  against  labor,  but  to  take  labor  in  to  the 
extent  which  I  have  outlined  above,  and  let  labor  understand 
that  it  can  greatly  help  but  cannot  "run"  industry. 

Let  me  sum  up  my  creed  of  industrial  relations  by  quoting 
from  a  statement  which  I  made  before  the  war.  The  Industrial 
Relations  Commission,  of  which  Frank  Walsh  was  chairman 
had  asked  for  my  views  on  general  labor  questions  and  on  the 
specific  question  of  strikes: 

"I  do  not  believe  that  I  am  too  optimistic  in  expressing  the 
opinion  that^the  relations  between  employer  and  employee  are 
better  today  than  for  many  years  past.  The  employer  is  recog- 
nizing the  justice  and  the  advantage,  when  properly  conducted, 
of  the  principle  of  collective  bargaining;  and  both  employer 
and  employee  recognize  more  than  ever  their  interdependence^ 
and  their  reciprocal  obligations  as  well,  and  with  the  spirit  of 


94  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

fair  play  that  generally  prevails,  and  must  ultimately  prevail, 
we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  labor  agitators,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  unreasonable  employers,  many  of  them  on  the 
other,  will  soon  become  less  serious  obstacles  to  industrial  peace 

.  generally. 

"While  I  am  opposed  to  the  principle  of  the  closed  shop, 
believing  it  to  be  thoroughly  un-American,  I  nevertheless 
strongly  favor  labor  organizations  when  the  leadership  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  best  class  of  labor  leaders,  and  I  believe  that 
employers  of  labor  would  do  well  to  support  labor  organizations 
of  that  kind  to  prevent  the  growth  of  organizations  of  the 

.  radical  stripe. 

"I  do  not  believe  that  there  are  any  irreconcilable  differences 
or  an  'irreconcilable  conflict'  between  capital  and  labor.  While 
it  may  be  true  that  both  are  not  equally  benefited  by  the  main- 
tenance of  industrial  peace,  it  is  true  that  they  both  are  greatly 
hurt  by  industrial  warfare.  I  believe  that  if  the  managers  of 
corporations  would  more  generally  take  into  their  confidence 
their  employees  as  to  the  business  necessities  and  as  to  the 
disastrous  effect  of  adverse  legislation  to  their  business,  they 
would  not  only  stimulate  the  interests  of  the  employees  in 
their  work,  but  also  enlist  their  support  and  influence  against 
injurious  legislation.  It  is  necessary  for  managers  of  corpora- 
tions to  impress  upon  employees  that  they  are  'in  the  same 
boat,'  and  for  their  own  safety  they  both  should  oppose  either 
political  demagogues  or  selfish  labor  agitators  'rocking  the  boat.' 
"I  do  not  believe  in  what  is  called,  as  I  understand  it,  the 
democratization  of  labor;  that  is,  to  have  industrial  methods, 
processes  and  direction  determined  by  employees,  as  this  would 
result  in  bringing  in  politics — that  is  to  say,  intrigues — and  other 
factors  which  have  an  undermining  and  subversive  influence  in 
industrial  operations.  But  I  believe  thoroughly  in  the  men  in 
each  department  of  the  management  keeping  in  close  touch  with 
the  work  of  those  departments,  and  that  has  been  done  in  all 
the  activities  that  I  have  attempted,  with  the  result  that  I  have 
never  had  a  strike  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  employees  I  have 
had  all  over  the  world." 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  95 

AS  VIEWED  BY  A  LEADER  OF  WORKERS  1 

Thus  we  find  Mr.  Hodges,  the  General  Secretary  of  the 
Miners'  Federation,  in  one  of  his  numerous  speeches  in  favour 
of  the  nationalization  of  the  mines,  declaring  that  what  they 
demanded  was  a  new  status  for  the  worker  as  a  controller  of 
his  industry.  Miners  were  not  anarchists,  although  they  had 
the  power  to  be.  They  realized  that  their  interests  were  bound 
up  with  those  of  the  community,  and  therefore  they  demanded 
conditions  which  would  develop  the  corporate  sense.  .  .  Educa- 
tion was  carrying  men  along  social  rather  than  individualistic 
lines,  and  right  throughout  the  mining  industry  there  was  the 
desire  to  be  something  different  from  what  they  were.  This 
desire  to  be  master  of  the  work  in  which  the  man  was  engaged 
was  the  great  thing  that  was  vital  in  working-class  life.  .  . 
There  had  never  been  a  movement  born  of  greater  moral  aspira- 
tion than  this  movement  for  the  nationalization  of  the  mines. 
The  miner  wanted  to  be  in  a  position  where  it  would  be  to  him 
a  point  of  honour  not  to  allow  even  a  piece  of  timber  to  be 
wasted,  where  he  would  want  to  do  his  work  well.  He  wanted 
a  social  contract. 

These  extracts  from  a  speech  by  Mr.  Hodges  are  put 
together  from  the  separate  imperfect  reports  in  the  Times, 
Daily  News,  and  Daily  Herald  of  October  27,  1919.  A  more 
explicit  statement  of  Mr.  Hodges'  views  will  be  found  in  his 
speech  at  the  Annual  Conference  of  the  Miners'  Federation  in 
July  1918:  "For  the  last  two  or  three  years  a  new  movement 
has  sprung  up  in  the  labour  world  which  deals  with  the  question 
of  joint  control  of  the  industry  by  representatives  from  the 
side  which  represents,  for  the  most  part,  the  consumer,  and 
representatives  of  the  workmen,  who  are  the  producers. 
Nationalization  in  the  old  sense  is  no  longer  attractive.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  you  can  have  nationalization,  but  still  be  in  a 
better  position  than  you  are  now  under  private  ownership.  That 
is  the  experience  of  institutions  which  have  been  state  owned 
and  state  controlled  for  many  years.  The  most  remarkable 
scheme  worked  out  during  the  last  year  is  the  theory  worked 
out  by  the.  .  .  Postmen's  Federation.  He  has  endeavoured  to 

1  Sidney  and  Beatrice  Webb.  The  History  of  Trade  Unionism.  Rev. 
ed.  p.  673-5.  Longmans,  Green  and  Company.  New  York. 


9$  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

provide  a  scheme  by  which  the  postal  workers  should  have  a 
definite  amount  of  control,  a  definite  form  of  control,  in  the 
postal  service,  and  in  working  it  out  he  has  demonstrated 
beyond  all  doubt  how  at  every  point  he  is  up  against  the  power 
of  the  bureaucrats,  as  exemplified  by  the  State.  Now,  is  it 
any  good  to  have  these  mines  nationalized  unless  we  are  going 
to  exercise  some  form  of  control  as  producers?  If  not,  the 
whole  tendency  will  be  toward  the  power  of  bureaucracy.  We 
shall  be  given  no  status  at  all  in  the  industry,  except  to  be 
the  mere  producers,  as  we  have  been  in  the  past  years.  Under 
state  ownership  the  workmen  should  be  desirous  of  having 
something  more  than  the  mere  question  of  wages  or  the  mere 
consideration  of  employment;  the  workmen  should  have  some 
directive  power  in  the  industry  in  which  they  are  engaged. 
Now,  how  are  we  going  to  have  this  directive  power  under 
state  control?  I  think  we  must  admit  that  the  side  representing 
the  consumers  (the  state)  should  have  some  form  of  control 
on  property  which  will  be  state  property,  and  when  a  national 
industry  becomes  controlled  you  must  have  permanent  officials 
to  look  after  the  consumers'  interest,  and  from  the  purely 
producers'  point  of  view  the  Miners'  Federation  must  represent 
the  producers  in  the  central  authority  and  in  the  decentralized 
authority,  right  down  to  the  separate  colleries.  Are  we  ready 
to  do  this?  Are  we  prepared  for  this,  starting  at  the  separate 
colleries,  indicating  how  the  industry  is  to  be  developed  locally? 
Men  must  take  their  share  in  understanding  all  the  relations 
embodied  in  the  export  side  of  the  trade;  they  must  take  a 
share  even  in  controlling  the  banking  arrangements  which 
govern  the  financial  side  of  the  industry,  and  with  that  comes 
a  very  great  deal  of  responsibility.  Now,  are  we  prepared  to 
assume  that  responsibility,  a  responsibility  which  is  implied  in 
the  term  workmen's  control?  It  is  going  to  be  a  big  task  and 
a  test  of  the  educational  attainments  of  the  miners  themselves 
if  they  assume  control  of  industry,  and  if  it  did  not  thrive 
under  that  control  there  is  the  possibility  we  should  have  to 
hark  back  to  private  ownership  in  order  to  make  it  successful. 
...  I  hold  these  views,  and  unless  they  are  accompanied  by  an 
effective  form  of  working-class  control,  I  do  not  believe  that 
nationalization  will  do  any  good  for  anybody." 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  97 

HUMAN    AND   MECHANICAL    FACTORS    IN 
INDUSTRIAL  SCIENCE1 

The  real  problem  is  no  longer  whether  it  is  possible  to  re- 
turn to  mediaeval  craftsmanship,  but  the  detailed  problem  of 
how  far  and  in  what  manner  we  can  reap  the  fullest  advantage 
of  modern  machinery,  while  avoiding  its  evils.  And  this  full 
human  control  of  machinery  for  human  ends  can  only  be  gained 
when  the  science  of  the  relation  between  man  and  machine  is 
fully  developed.  We  can  only  control  what  we  understand ;  and 
it  has  been  the  blind  wastes  and  inefficiencies  of  the  past  that 
have  given  rise  to  most  of  the  evils  that  the  workers  deplore. 
I  have  said  this  to  the  workers  in  conference ;  and  their  reply 
brings  us  to  the  very  heart  of  the  matter.  That  reply  is, — 
whether  our  science  is  able  to  serve  the  greater  human  ends 
depends  entirely  on  how  far  we  keep  those  greater  ends  in  view. 
Science  herself  is  impartial,  and  lends  herself  as  easily  to  de- 
struction as  to  construction. 

The  workers  ask,  then,  what  are  the  ends  which  we  are  serv- 
ing? When  we  speak  of  Production,  they  ask,  "Production  of 
what?"  "Production  of  things  or  of  men?  Of  goods  or  of 
human  well-being  and  happiness?"  It  has  been  said  to  me  over 
and  over  again,  "There  are  things  more  important  than  mere 
production,  and  one  of  these  is  human  personality."  The  criti- 
cism by  these  educated  men  of  our  emphasis  on  production  is 
not  on  the  fallacious  ground  of  "over-production," — a  fallacy 
they  understood  as  well  as  ourselves;  it  is  on  moral  and  social 
grounds.  They  over-ride  the  artificial  barriers  which  the 
sophisticated  erect  between  economic,  psychological  and  ethical 
questions,  and  ask  that  we  shall  view  industrial  processes  in 
their  proper  relation  to  the  full  needs  of  human  nature.  They 
have  even  pointed  out  to  me  that  our  science  is  incomplete  un- 
less it  deals  with  the  wide  social  effects  of  technical  processes. 
They  <jo  not  deny  the  need  for  production,  but  demand  some  so- 
cial guidance  of  that  purpose  in  relation  to  moral  ends. 

Moreover,  they  are  seeking  to  find  in  their  daily  occupation 
a  true  vocation, — one  which  shall  develop  them  further  in  their 
manhood  and  employ  the  balance  of  powers  of  mind  and  body. 

1  S.  S.  Brierley.  Attitude  of  Employees  to  Industrial  Psychology. 
British  Journal  of  Psychology.  Vol.  10.  p.  222-3.  March,  1920. 


98  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

It  was  asked  on  one  occasion,  "Is  a  man  in  industry  sleeping  or 
living?  Is  he  just  as  in  bed,  marking  time,  existing,  but  not 
living?  Or  is  he  really  living  in  the  full  human  sense?"  When 
one  speaks  to  them  of  "vocational  tests,"  one  meets  sometimes 
with  derision.  We  wish  to  test,  they  say,  not  for  a  vocation  but 
for  a  mechanical  operation;  and  the  term  "vocation"  is  meaning- 
less in  such  a  connection. 

In  response  to  this  demand,  one  is  able  to  urge  that  we  are 
asking  for  a  wider  education,  general  and  technical,  in  order 
that  each  worker  may  come  to  understand  the  part  he  plays  in 
relation  to  the  complete  scheme  of  industrial  activity.  The 
workers  admit  that  such  an  imaginative  understanding  of  the 
relation  of  each  bit  of  work  to  the  great  creative  whole  of  in- 
dustry is  a  most  desirable  thing,  but  they  go  on  to  urge  that  this 
cannot  of  itself  satisfy  the  desire  for  creative  work.  It  will 
rather  aggravate  the  emotional  dissatisfaction,  unless  there  goes 
with  it  some  measure  of  effective  control  of  the  industrial  ma- 
chine. If  the  worker  himself  and  the  part  he  plays  in  the  in- 
dustrial whole  are  directed  entirely  from  without,  the  mere 
knowledge  of  how  he  is  directed  can  be  but  an  exasperation  of 
his  feelings  of  impotence  and  futility.  Therefore,  he  argues,  the 
assumption  by  the  worker  of  some  measure  of  genuine  control 
of  industrial  processes  is  the  only  way  in  which  it  is  possible  to 
restore  to  the  vast  dehumanised  machine  of  modern  production 
any  true  satisfaction  for  the  workmanly  and  creative  impulses 
of  the  bulk  of  those  whose  destiny  it  controls.  This  is  their 
answer  to  the  problem  of  over-specialisation,  to  the  question  of 
how  the  technical  psychology  of  industrial  processes  can  be  made 
to  serve  the  greater  human  purposes. 


ORGANIZED  LABOR'S  DESIRES  1 

There  is  a  knowledge  of  industry  among  the  workers  in  in- 
dustry of  which  society  has  not  begun  to  avail  itself.  The  effort 
has  been  to  suppress  use  of  that  knowledge  and  to  demean  those 
who  possess  it.  The  workers  know  their  work  as  none  but  the 

1  Part  of  Program  Adopted  by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
Convention,  Montreal,  1920.  Monthly  Labor  Review.  August,  1920. 
p.  168-9. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  99 

workers  can  know  it.  The  shoemaker  knows  his  last  and  the 
engineer  understands  the  capacity  of  his  engine. 

The  workers  are  appalled  at  the  waste  and  ignorance  of  man- 
agement, but  they  are  too  frequently  denied  the  chance  to  offer 
their  knowledge  for  use. 

They  decline  to  be  enslaved  by  the  use  of  their  own  knowl- 
edge and  they  cannot  give  of  it  freely  or  effectively  except  as 
equals  in  industry,  with  all  of  the  rights  and  privileges  and  with 
all  of  the  stature  and  standing  of  employers. 

Adoption  of  the  principle  of  voluntary  effort,  of  full  cooper- 
ation in  industry,  will  bring  to  the  industrial  life  of  the  nation 
such  an  impetus  that  production  will  cease  forever  to  be  a  prob- 
lem in  American  life.  .  . 

Autocratic  industry  kills  incentive.  It  punishes  brilliancy  of 
attainment.  It  warps  the  mind  and  drains  the  energy  from  the 
body.  We  have  repeatedly  condemned  the  principle  of  autocratic 
control  of  industry,  and  we  now  declare  that  short  of  its 
complete  removal  from  our  industrial  life  there  is  no  industrial 
salvation  and  no  hope  of  abundance  in  our  time. 

We  urge  the  setting  up  on  conference  boards  of  organized 
workers  and  employers,  thoroughly  voluntary  in  character  and 
in  thorough  accord  with  our  trade-union  organizations,  as  means 
of  promoting  the  democracy  of  industry  through  development 
of  cooperative  effort.  We  point  out  to  employers  the  fact  that 
industry,  which  is  the  life  blood  of  our  civilization,  cannot  be 
made  the  plaything  and  the  pawn  of  a  few  who  by  chance 
today  hold  control.  Industry  is  the  thing  by  which  all  must 
live,  and  it  must  be  given  the  opportunity  to  function  at  its  best. 

Labor  turnover  is  but  one  of  the  evils  which  will  disappear 
in  proportion  as  the  workers  are  given  voice  in  management. 
This  is  proven  by  statistics  which  show  the  lowest  turnover  in 
industries  where  the  workers  exercise  the  most  effective  voice 
by  reason  of  the  highest  degree  of  organization. 

We  propose  the  salvation  of  industry.  We  propose  the  means 
whereby  the  world  may  be  fed  and  clothed  and  housed  and 
given  happiness.  We  have  service  to  give,  and  if  permitted  to 
give  freely  and  on  terms  of  manhood  and  equality  we  will  give 
in  abundance.  We  cannot  be  driven  as  slaves,  but  we  can  give 
mighty  service  in  a  common  effort  of  humankind. 


V.        THE  ECONOMIC  POWER  OF 
THE  CREATIVE  INSTINCT 

A  large  part  of  traditional  industrial  relations  has  been  built 
upon  the  supposition  that  labor  is  naturally  lazy,  and  instinctively 
hates  work.  Psychology  points  out  that  what  ordinarily  appears 
to  be  laziness  arises  from  the  fact  that  measures  have  never 
been  taken  to  appeal  to  the  instinct  of  workmanship.  Pride 
in  work,  satisfaction  in  work,  creativeness  in  work  are  deep 
human  realities  when  the  conditions  of  work  are  properly 
adapted  to  the  human  organism.  When  working  conditions,  or 
methods  of  management  are  such  as  to  cause  the  creative  instinct 
to  atrophy,  workers  become  indifferent  to  their  work,  and  often 
hate  it.  When  working  conditions  and  methods  of  management 
are  such  as  to  stimulate  and  satisfy  the  creative  instinct,  workers 
take  a  genuine  interest  in  their  work.  The  creative  instinct 
takes  rank  with  the  possessive  instinct  in  its  force  and  energy. 

Business  executives  who  manage  men  on  the  assumption 
that  all  they  work  for  is  money  leaye  untapped  the  rich 
resources  of  productive  energy  contained  in  the  normal  man's 
instinct  of  workmanship.  The  worker  is  a  man  of  more  than 
one  motive,  and  that  the  money  motive.  He  is  capable  of 
craftsmanship,  and  his  nature  fundamentally  longs  for  the  satis- 
factions of  interesting  workmanship.  Psychology  attempts  to 
aid  the  business  man  in  discovering  the  means  of  arousing  and 
organizing  the  creative  energies  of  human  beings. 


DOES  THE  WORKER  HAVE  A  CREATIVE 
INSTINCT?1 

The  instinct  of  workmanship  has  been  all  but  crowded  out. 
So  gradual  and  subtle  has  been  the  change  that  we  do  not 
recognize  it  until  we  suddenly  note  the  contrast.  Like  the  art 

1  Irving  Fisher.  Humanizing  Industry.  Annals  of  the  American  Acad- 
emy. March,  1919.  p.  87-90. 


102  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

of  making  iridescent  glass  which,  since  the  iridescence  was  due 
to  imperfections  in  the  process  of  glass  making,  was  lost  without 
the  loss  being  realized  as  that  process  was  gradually  perfected, 
so  the  instinct  of  workmanship  has  been  dropped  out  by  the 
very  perfection  of  modern  industry.  While  attending  so  closely 
to  the  product,  we  have  forgotten  the  psychology  of  the  pro- 
ducer. While  making  one  man  perfect  in  one  point  and  another 
in  another  point,  we  have  sacrificed  the  satisfaction  of  both. 
The  monotonous  nature  of  the  work,  and  the  fact  that  the 
workman  does  not  see  his  product,  are  the  characteristics  of 
modern  industry  which  cripple  the  effort  that  instinct  could  put 
into  the  work,  and  which  are  responsible  for  the  dissatisfaction 
and  unrest.  Get  rid  of  them,  and  the  main  (though  not  the 
only)  obstacle  to  industrial  peace  will  be  gone. 

In  modern  industry,  individuality  is  lost, — each  man's  work 
is  thrown  in  a  common  pool.  In  former  days,  the  cobbler  made 
the  pair  of  shoes  and  watched  their  progress,  inquiring  of  the 
wearer,  "How  do  they  wear  today?"  The  artist  similarly  has 
the  joy  of  self-expression  and  creation  in  his  picture. 

Text-books  of  economics  today  make  the  statement  that  the 
motive  for  work  is  money-making,  with  the  exception  that 
artists  and  scientists  work  for  the  joy  that  their  work  gives 
them.  There  is  no  greater  fallacy  than  to  make  this  contrast. 
The  workman  has  this*  same  power,  though  latent,  of  enjoying 
self-expression  in  his  work.  Our  usual  acceptance  of  this  fallacy 
shows  how  far  we  are  off  the  track. 

President  Eliot  of  Harvard  once  spoke  in  Boston  on  the  joy 
of  work.  The  next  week  a  labor  leader  in  the  same  hall  spoke 
with  a  scornful  laugh  of  the  "high  brow's"  reference  to  such 
"joy"  and  the  crowd  of  workingmen  present  approvingly  joined 
in  his  ridicule.  This  incident  is  pathetic  evidence  that  joy  of 
work  is  too.  often  conspicuous  by  its  absence.  When  I  first 
became  conscious  of  this  fact,  I  was  loath  to  publish  my  opinions. 
I  was  not  sufficiently  experienced  in  the  field  either  as  laborer 
or  employer.  I  wanted  to  wait  until  I  could  see  the  ideas  tested. 

In  the  last  year  Miss  Marot's  book  "The  Creative  Impulse 
in  Industry,"  and  Ordway  Tead's  on  "The  Instinct  in  Industry," 
have  given  expression  to  substantially  these  same  conclusions. 
From  still  another  angle  Carleton  H.  Parker  had  reached 
similar  views.  The  strongest  evidence  of  their  truth,  however, 
is  the  experience  of  Robert  B.  Wolf,  who  has  applied  them  in 
the  practical  management  of  a  paper  pulp  factory. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  103 

What  did  Wolf  do?  He  introduced  into  his  mill  a  system  of 
record-charts  by  which  each  individual  workman  could  see  what 
his  contribution  to  the  product  was.  Just  as  in  baseball,  we  are 
interested  in  the  score;  and  just  as  in  school,  students  find 
grades  an  incentive,  so  the  workmen  were  stimulated  by  having 
and  making  a  record.  The  curves  and  charts  which  Wolf  de- 
vised gave  an  opportunity  for  such  expression  as  the  artist  or 
handicraftsman  enjoys. 

Before  Wolf  came  to  the  mill,  where  he  tried  out  these 
ideas,  there  used  to  be  discontent.  On  his  arrival  as  manager, 
there  was  a  strike  on,  and  pickets  surrounding  the  yards.  The 
mill  owner  told  him  to  get  that  energy  that  was  called  out  by  the 
strike  into  the  making  of  wood-pulp.  In  strikes,  as  in  the 
trenches,  there  is  the  satisfaction  of  the  instincts. 

At  first  antagonistic  to  Wolf's  innovations,  the  men  soon  saw 
the  "new  game"  and  in  striving  to  excel  in  it,  found  a  construc- 
tive outlet  for  the  impulses  that  had  previously  gone  into  de- 
structive channels.  They  no  longer  have  to  make  trouble  in 
order  to  have  the  feeling  of  "something  doing."  Discontent  is 
gone.  It  has  sometimes  been  necessary  to  change  a  man's  work, 
but  almost  never  to  discharge  a  man  for  inefficiency.  The 
tendency  of  letting  men  slip  into  dead-end  jobs  is  overcome. 
Mentally  and  physically  each  man  is  suited  to  his  job.  Promo- 
tions and  the  development  of  all-round  ability  are  encouraged. 
The  work  becomes  educative,  as  the  workman,  watching  his 
progress,  masters  the  process  until  he  can  himself  invent  im- 
provements in  the  technique. 

I  have  sometimes  illustrated  the  fact  that  employees  need 
other  than  monetary  inducements,  in  this  way:  Suppose  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  as  General  Pershing's  employer,  had  said  to  the 
General  when  he  called  him  to  the  White  House  before  sending 
him  overseas:  "Now,  Pershing,  you  are  going  to  do  a  job  for 
me.  I  want  it  well  done.  I  know  you  will  shirk  if  you  have  a 
chance.  I  therefore  want  to  hitch  up  your  interests  with  mine. 
Your  pay  will  depend  on  your  victories.  I'll  pay  you  a  bonus 
for  every  German  killed  and  another  for  every  German  taken 
prisoner.  I'll  pay  you  also  for  overtime  beyond  eight  hours  a 
day." 

How  would  General  Pershing  reply  to  such  "inducements," 
especially  when  put  forward  as  though  President  Wilson  as- 
sumed that  he  could  not  be  expected  to  feel  any  other  motive 
than  the  mercenary  one?  Would  he  not  have  replied: 


104  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

"Here  is  my  resignation,  Mr.  President.  You  have  insulted 
me.  What  do  you  take  me  for?  Of  course  a  man  must  live, 
but  money  is  the  last  thing  I  am  thinking  of  now.  I  want  to 
fight  for  my  country,  for  you,  for  our  ideals,  for  glory,  and  for 
the  satisfaction  of  expressing  whatever  is  in  me  of  military 
genius." 

An  objector  might  say,  "But  Pershing  is  a  general,  and  art- 
ist in  his  line,  an  exceptional  man."  Were  not  the  common 
soldiers  under  him  fighting  for  the  same  motives?  And  were 
they  not  the  very  same  men  who  were  formerly  in  shops  work- 
ing merely  for  pay?  The  army  affords  the  most  supreme  illus- 
tration of  men  motivated  by  entirely  different  instincts  than 
simply  self-preservation  or  "making  a  living."  Instincts  which 
had  been  repressed  or  dormant  up  to  this  point  in  their  lives 
were  found  far  more  powerful  in  these  workmen  soldiers  than 
the  instinct  of  making  a  living.  When,  as  ex-soldiers,  they  come 
back  to  be  workmen  again  they  will  unconsciously  miss  some- 
thing and  unless  it  is  supplied  them,  there  will  be  trouble.  We 
must  satisfy  their  higher  instincts.  The  employer  must  see  in 
the  workman  his  brother  man,  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood,  with 
the  same  soul-hunger,  needing  the  same  soul-food  to  satisfy  it. 


HOW  THE  INSTINCT  OF  WORKMANSHIP  IS 
AROUSED 1 

Production  is  always  a  matter,  not  only  of  technical  ability 
or  muscular  power  and  health,  but,  more  than  all  these,  of  will- 
ingness as  well.  The  great  difference  between  slave  or  prison 
labor  and  free  labor  is  just  this  matter  of  willingness,  spontaniety, 
freedom.  Very  much  has  been  said  of  "will-power"  in  recent 
times  by  fake  psychologists.  We  are  told  that  it  is  possible  to 
train  will-power  just  as  it  is  possible  to  strengthen  memory  and 
certain  other  so-called  "faculties"  of  the  mind.  But  how  are 
we  going  to  create  will-power  if  the  scientific  psychologists  are 
right  in  telling  us  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  will?  The 
problem  would  be  immensely  simplified  if  we  could  isolate  the 
appendix  or  the  pituitary  gland  and  perform  an  operation  on 
the  one  or  feed  the  other ;  but  apparently  there  is  no  will  gland 

1  Arthur  J.  Todd.  Reaching  the  Mainspring  of  the  Wills  of  People. 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  September,  1920.  p.  26-35. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  105 

or  brain  tract  labelled  "will."  The  trouble  is  that  the  human  will 
is  simply  the  dynamic  aspect  of  the  whole  human  personality; 
that  is,  it  is  human  character  in  action ;  therefore,  a  very  com- 
plicated affair. 

We  are  all  complexes,  a  mass  of  perhaps  thousands  of  unit 
characters  which  go  to  make  up  the  whole  thing  we  call  the 
human  personality  or  the  human  character.  Nobody,  however, 
includes  in  his  make-up  every  element  in  a  perfect  formula. 
At  least  we  all  represent  individual  emphasis  upon  certain 
characteristics  that  may  be  common  to  all  people.  The  strata 
in  our  character  topography  run  thin  or  thick,  according  to 
certain  more  or  less  understood  principles  of  heredity,  early 
training,  education,  etc. ;  or,  put  in  another  way,  our  mixture, 
that  is,  our  character  force,  may  run  lean  or  rich,  according  to 
season,  and  according  to  certain  conditions  of  our  social  atmos- 
phere. Anybody  who  has  ever  driven  an  automobile  knows 
that  he  gets  more  power  on  a  moist  day.  Just  so  human  char- 
acter, on  its  energy  side,  responds  to  certain  subtle  elements  in 
the  environment. 

Since  will  is  fundamentally  ideas  in  action,  the  great  problem 
of  evoking  will-power  is  how  to  create  an  atmosphere  in  which 
ideas  will  bloom.  If  it  is  will-power,  willingness,  that  we  want, 
instead  of  "won't"-power,  the  power  of  negation  and  obstruction, 
we  must  first  learn  to  drain  off  the  morasses  of  fear  and 
suspicion  which  have  been  allowed  to  gather  about  industry. 
Would  it  be  stretching  a  metaphor  to  say  that  part  of  the 
remedy  for  "won't"-power  is  the  providing  of  just  the  proper 
balance  of  emotional  humidity  and  intellectual  dryness? 

An  accepted  principle  in  sociology  is  that  men  are  ruled  more 
by  their  beliefs  than  by  laws.  It  is  commonly  assumed  that 
the  average  run  of  people  have  certain  fundamental  "interests," 
and  that  the  whole  social  process  is  simply  the  interplay  of 
these  fundamental  interests  struggling  for  recognition.  The 
simple  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  absolute  interest  does  not  deter- 
mine human  conduct.  It  is  rather  what  a  man  believes  his 
interest  to  be  that  determines  him.  Since  motive  and  belief 
depend  in  part  upon  information  it  is  important  at  the  very 
beginning  of  analyzing  this  problem  of  the  human  element  in 
industry  to  recognize  the  inexorable  necessity  of  telling  the  truth, 
of  dealing  in  "pure  facts,"  just  as  we  insist  upon  pure  food, 
pure  water,  pure  milk. 


io6  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

"Won't"-power  is  the  product  not  only  of  faulty  information, 
but  also  of  balked  instincts,  of  suspicions  and  repressions,  of 
ingrowing  grievances,  which  result  in  a  whole  string  of  path- 
ological manifestations.  Frequently  the  trick  of  transforming 
"won't"-power  into  will-power  is  performed  simply  by  opening 
the  valves  of  expression  and  by  allowing,  encouraging,  or  all 
but  compelling  the  person  to  get  his  suppressed  emotion  or 
suspicion  or  fears  or  jealousies  or  hallucinations  out  of  his  mind. 
For  this  reason,  if  for  no  other,  grievance  committees,  shop 
committees,  personnel  departments,  and  impartial  machinery,  to 
which  the  workers  have  access  and  freedom  to  state  their 
grievances,  are  of  enormous  value  quite  apart  from  any  theo- 
retical consideration  as  to  their  bearing  upon  some  ideal  indus- 
trial democracy.  The  English  long  ago  learned  this  value  of 
the  safety  valve,  and  any  Sunday  in  the  year  you  can  see  it 
working  in  Hyde  Park  or  Victoria  Park,  where  cranks  almost 
without  number  are  spouting  their  grievances.  Such  freedom 
of  speech  and  of  assemblage,  which  is  the  heritage  of  English 
and  American  democracy,  is  absolutely  sound  in  its  application 
to  industry,  and  particularly  to  the  problems  of  production. 
This  does  not  mean  that  shops  are  to  be  turned  into  debating 
societies  or  that  forensic  eloquence  is  to  take  the  place  of 
mechanical  skill.  There  are  workers,  of  course,  who,  like  Mark 
Twain's  Mississippi  steamboat,  cannot  whistle  and  turn  wheels 
at  the  same  time,  but  for  the  most  part  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
the  feeling  of  freedom  to  express  one's  grievances  carries  over 
somehow  or  other  into  free  action  for  the  whole  personality — 
muscular  and  mental. 

A  simple  example  will  illustrate  how  people  are  dominated 
by  beliefs,  no  matter  how  foolish  the  beliefs  may  be.  One  of 
the  most  troublesome  things  in  the  clothing  industry  is  button- 
hole twist.  At  certain  times  it  is  difficult  to  get  twist  of  uniform 
quality,  even  though  the  trade  designations  and  numbers  remain 
nominally  the  same.  Sometimes  twist  on  the  outside  of  the 
spool  is  of  a  different  thickness  from  what  it  is  at  the  center 
of  the  spool.  In  a  tailor  shop  some  time  ago  a  protest  was 
made  by  the  buttonhole  makers  against  their  twist.  They 
claimed  it  was  of  finer  quality  than  customary  and  therefore 
made  their  work  harder.  This  twist  was  on  white  spools.  An 
ingenious  superintendent  conceived  the  idea  of  rewinding  it  on 
red  spools.  When  he  presented  it  to  the  workers  they  accepted 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  107 

the  red  spools  without  question  and  were  altogether  happy  in 
their  work.  I  do  not  underwrite  either  the  ethics  or  the  esthetics 
of  this  episode,  but  simply  cite  it  to  illustrate  how  facts  are 
frequently  no  match  for  beliefs  in  dealing  with  human 
beings.  .  . 

The  Achieving  Impulse 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  creative  impulse,  the  full  impulse 
to  good  workmanship  and  self-expression  in  the  job  are  not 
encountered,  yet  we  find  in  all  industries  and  amongst  all  ranks 
of  workers  men  who  are  genuinely  interested  in  their  jobs, 
men  whom  the  problems  of  their  jobs  really  attract,  men  who 
work  at  their  problems  outside  of  working  hours  and  do  not 
actually  stow  away  their  interest  in  the  job  with  their  tools  at 
the  end  of  the  day.  Management  should  see  to  it  that  this 
problem  interest  is  not  overlooked  in  the  machinery  of  selection 
and  promotion,  nor  should  it  neglect  the  function  of  rotation 
on  the  job  as  a  means  of  keeping  the  worker's  mind  full  of  new 
problems.  The  ideal  state  of  mind  for  the  worker  is  the  state 
of  mind  which  marks  the  real  professional  man,  namely,  that 
his  whole  working  life  is  an  apprenticeship  directed  toward 
the  satisfying  of  what  Joseph  Lee  calls  the  "achieving  instinct." 
Indeed,  I  think  perhaps  the  whole  relationship  between  a  profes- 
sion and  ordinary  artisanship  is  summarized  in  the  idea  that  a 
profession  is  work  taken  seriously.  If  the  worker  can  be  led 
to  take  his  work  seriously  and  has  been  given  the  proper  indus- 
trial technique  we  need  not  worry  about  the  problem  of  produc- 
tion. Of  course  that  process  of  getting  him  to  take  his  work 
seriously  would  involve  his  thorough  initiation  into  the  whole 
inner  meaning  of  his  job,  its  relation  to  all  the  other  jobs  in 
his  shop,  the  relationship  between  his  shop  and  his  industry  to 
all  the  other  industries;  in  other  words,  it  would  mean  opening 
up  the  mind  of  the  worker  to  his  responsibility  as  a  contributory 
citizen  in  industry.  .  . 

Production  for  Production's  Sake 

Sooner  or  later  in  the  production  game  we  are  brought  up 
with  a  round  turn  against  the  worker's  frank,  sometimes  brutal 
question,  "Produce?  Turn  out  more  work?  Why  should  I? 
What's  the  use  ?  If  I  work  more  I  simply  work  myself  out  of 
a  job  or  line  the  bosses'  pockets" ;  or,  "I  have  got  enough 
anyhow;  I  don't  need  to  work  any  more."  This  gets  down  to 


io8  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

bed-rock.  Why,  after  all,  should  men  produce?  Is  there  any 
virtue  in  producing  for  production's  sake?  Of  what  value  is  it, 
once  you  get  away  from  certain  fundamental  articles  of  food, 
clothing  and  shelter,  to  make  more  units  of  a  certain  kind  of 
stuff?  I  am  frank  to  say  that  if  I  were  a  worker,  turning  out 
some  of  the  cheap  gimcrackery  that  is  made  just  to  sell  or 
play  with,  and  which  fits  no  fundamental  human  need,  I  should 
answer  that  the  only  reason  which  would  lead  me  to  produce 
would  be  to  get  more  for  myself.  I  am  equally  frank  to  say 
that  I  can  see  no  way  of  getting  over  to  the  workers  the  full 
stimulus  to  production  until  they  are  convinced  that  the  world 
is  suffering  from  a  lack  of  production  of  certain  basic  com- 
modities, and  that  they,  as  partners  in  industry,  are  responsible 
for  furnishing  those  commodities.  Sidney  Hillman  told  the 
City  Club  of  Rochester  a  short  while  ago  that  "to  get  production, 
not  only  for  one  year,  but  for  always,  the  worker  must  have 
a  feeling  that  he  has  a  citizenship  in  industry  as  well  as  in  the 
political  state."  That  is  to  say,  the  worker  must  understand 
that  in  reality  and  in  truth  he  is  a  responsible  citizen  who  is 
charged  with  helping  to  fulfill  some  great  fundamental  demand 
of  the  people;  or,  to  put  it  in  another  way,  that  he  is  helping 
industry  to  perform  a  public  service.  That  is,  citizenship  in 
industry  means  not  just  voting  one's  self  more  pay,  not  just 
receiving  certain  benefits  through  collective  action;  it  means 
responsibility  and  some  measure  of  self-determination  and  self- 
expression.  No  technical  arrangement  of  business  nor  juggling 
with  piecework  or  weekwork  or  production  standards  or  bonus 
systems  will  get  anywhere  in  the  long  run  unless  this  funda- 
mental question  of  creative  responsibility  is  first  answered  and 
answered  frankly  and  fairly.  Failing  that  satisfactory  answer, 
pressure  for  output  on  highly  specialized  and  subdivided  lines 
may  defeat  itself.  It  is  possible  to  stage  routine  so  as  to  make 
it  interesting  and  productive  for  the  time  being  by  applying 
scientific  principles  instead  of  mere  rule  of  thumb,  and  speed 
competition  teams  may  succeed  for  a  time ;  but  permanent 
success  can  only  come  if  the  workers  understand  the  point  of 
this  speed,  if  they  are  taken  into  confidence  in  production  plans, 
if,  instead  of  standing  baffled  before  meaningless  production 
"they  are  made  conscious  participators  in  the  creative  process." 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  109 

RELEASING  THE  INDIVIDUAL  WORKER'S 
ENERGIES  x 

An  athlete  strains  every  muscle  to  win  a  prize,  but  does  he 
do  it  because  he  wants  the  junk  he  gets?  Wherever  money  is 
the  accepted  measure  of  achievement,  the  most  of  us  will  be 
quite  apt  to  struggle  for  money.  We  are  getting  into  a  new  age 
now,  one  in  which  the  profiteer  is  in  disgrace,  and  the  man  who 
produces  the  goods  is  the  man  who  counts. 

A  while  ago  I  spoke  in  New  York  and  I  tried  to  get  this 
idea  across.  To  my  surprise  that  speech  was  reported  as  a  rad- 
ical, revolutionary  outburst,  and  I  even  received  an  offer  from 
the  I.W.W.  to  join  their  organization.  I  hardly  think  I  shall 
join.  It  has  never  occurred  to  me  that  the  new  age  would  be 
any  dictatorship  of  the  incompetent  and  in  which  the  organizers 
and  executives  of  industry  would  have  no  place.  But  it  will  be 
a  world  for  the  workers,  a  world  in  which  mere  possession  will 
no  longer  rule,  a  world  which  will  yield  honor  not  to  those  who 
have  but  to  those  who  serve. 

And  the  best  soldier  of  the  common  good,  is  not  necessarily 
the  one  who  performs  the  most  brilliant  individual  exploit.  He 
is  the  one  who  goes  furthest  in  inspiring  the  whole  gang  to  do 
its  best. 

Industry  is  not  an  army.  You  can't  reach  your  objectives  by 
simply  giving  the  right  orders.  You  can't  get  anywhere  by  at- 
tempting to  train  your  workers  to  jump  at  the  word  of  com- 
mand. Industry  is  constructive,  creative.  In  order  to  get  re- 
sults you  must  depend  on  the  individual  initiative  of  every  unit 
in  the  organization.  You  must  appeal  to  their  creative  instincts. 
No  boss  who  tries  merely  to  drive  his  men  is  worth  a  damn. 

When  I  was  asked  to  become  Director  General  of  the  Emer- 
gency Fleet  Corporation  I  was  worried  for  fear  I  would  not 
be  given  sufficient  authority.  Now  I've  got  so  much  authority 
that  I'm  afraid  of  it.  There  is  the  constant  temptation  to  give 
orders — to  tell  people  what  to  do  instead  of  permitting  them  to 
do  it. 

I  know  something  about  making  steel,  but  I  don't  know  any- 
where near  as  much  as  the  millions  of  steel  workers  know.  No 
one  man  can  know  as  much  as  the  crowd  knows.  No  one  can 

1  Charles  W.  Wood.  The  Great  Change,  p.  124-6.  Mr.  Schwab  and 
the  New  Order.  Boni  and  Liveright.  New  York.  1918. 


no  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

do  as  much  as  the  crowd  can  do.  The  real  leader  is  not  the 
man  who  substitutes  his  own  will  and  his  own  brain  for  the 
will  and  intelligence  of  the  crowd  but  the  one  who  releases  the 
energies  within  the  crowd  so  that  the  will  of  the  crowd  can  be 
expressed. 


A    PRACTICAL    DEMONSTRATION    IN    INDUS- 
TRIAL ENGINEERING  x 

We  all  know  that  no  man  will  loaf  or  slack  on  a  job  when 
he  is  interested  in  it.  Neither  will  he  slight  the  quality.  It  may 
be  possible  to  work  without  interest,  spurred  on  by  some  force 
of  necessity,  but  the  man  working  in  such  fashion  has  no  heart 
in  his  work. 

Why  do  men  work  half-heartedly,  giving  a  minimum  of  re- 
turn for  their  wages?  Why  are  they  so  commonly  dissatisfied, 
grumbling  at  petty  annoyances,  resentful  of  efforts  to  help  them, 
and  quitting  their  jobs  apparently  without  reason?  Why  do 
they  strike,  and  why  are  they  so  willing  to  listen  to  those  who 
are  capable  of  voicing  their  discontent?  By  men,  of  course,  I 
mean  all  employees,  men  and  women,  in  every  branch  of  in- 
dustry and  merchandising.  .  . 

The  cause  of  practically  all  labor  inefficiency — a  prelude  to 
labor  disturbance — is  lack  of  interest.  There  are  only  two  ways 
out  of  the  dilemma.  The  first  is  to  create  interest  in  work,  and 
the  second  is  to  accept  disinterestedness  as  ineviable  and  to  speed 
up  the  treadmill  so  that  a  certain  amount  of  work  has  to  be 
turned  out,  interest  or  no  interest.  The  first  is  the  democratic 
American  way,  the  second  is  the  Prussian.  In  reality,  there  is 
no  choice,  as  the  Prussian  method  is  now  in  the  process  of 
destroying  itself. 

Therefore,  the  way  of  expression,  rather  than  the  way  of 
repression,  is  the  only  course  open  to  us.  At  first  sight  it  may 
seem  impossible  to  change  the  monotony  of  routine  work  with- 
out extremely  radical  changes  in  operating  conditions,  but  I 
know  from  actual  experience  that  it  is  possible  so  to  stage  even 
routine  work  that  it  will  draw  and  hold  the  interest  of  the 
worker  to  an  absorbing  degree. 

1  R.  B.  Wolf.  Making  Men  Like  Their  Jobs.  System.  January  and 
February.  1919.  p.  34-8,  222-6. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  in 

In  other  words,  the  work  ceases  to  be  routine  under  methods 
which  bring  forth  intelligent  conscious  control  of  the  process 
on  the  part  of  the  worker,  when  we  make  him  master  of  the 
machine  instead  of  merely  furnishing  the  machine  with  organs 
of  sense. 

It  is  just  as  necessary  to  get  away  from  "rule  of  thumb" 
methods  in  directing  human  activity  as  it  is  in  the  process  of 
handling  materials  which  conform  to  natural  laws.  There  are 
laws  underlying  human  nature,  and  it  is  the  function  of  the  sci- 
ence of  philosophy  to  organize  these  laws  for  the  benefit  of  all 
those  who  wish  to  study  them.  .  . 

John  P.  Burke,  who  is  president  of  the  Pulp,  Sulphite  and 
Paper  Mill  Workers'  Union,  expressed  this  thought  very  clearly 
in  a  letter  which  I  received  from  him  recently.  I  quote  in  part 
from  Mr.  Burke's  letter: 

"When  I  worked  in  the  factories,  which  I  did  from  the  age 
of  twelve  to  twenty-five,  one  of  the  things  I  found  the  most 
dissatisfaction  with  was  the  deadening  sameness  of  the  work. 
I  never  remember  a  time,  when  working  in  the  factories,  that  I 
became  so  interested  in  my  work  that  I  didn't  long  for  quitting 
time  to  come. 

"After  leaving  factory  work  I  got  a  job  with  a  building  con- 
tractor. Becoming  proficient  as  a  carpenter,  I  time  and  again 
did  certain  work  of  more  or  less  creative  nature;  I  often  be- 
came so  interested  in  it  that  I  paid  no  attention  to  quitting  time. 
I  have  worked  for  two  or  three  hours  after  the  time  when  I 
might  have  quit  work.  There  is  joy  in  creative  work." 

This  feeling  of  being  an  automaton,  with  a  lack  of  responsi- 
bility that  goes  with  it,  is  to  my  mind  the  greatest  cause  of  the 
workman's  dissatisfaction.  Unfortunately,  the  workman  has  in 
too  many  cases  accepted  the  state  of  affairs  as  inevitable  and 
inherent  in  the  modern  industrial  movement,  so  that  his  idea  is 
to  shorten  the  hours  and  raise  the  pay,  in  order  to  have  as  much 
time  away  from  the  work  as  possible  to  develop  himself  along 
the  lines  he  really  enjoys. 

Every  individual  craves  responsibility — this  is  the  very  foun- 
dation rock  upon  which  individuality  is  built;  but  modern  in- 
dustry tends  to  take  responsibility  away  from  men  and  they 
cease  to  care — for  there  is  nothing  to  care  about.  Of  course, 
they  can  be  made  to  work  faster  by  giving  production  bonuses 
but  the  production  bonuses  operate  very  much  like  the  outer 


H2  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

pressure  which  comes  from  low  wage  conditions.  They  are 
outer  stimuli,  whereas  what  we  need  is  the  inner  desire, 
which  is  the  real  motive  power  of  all  individual  creative  activity. 

A  man  cannot  work  from  within,  however,  unless  the  work 
interests  him,  and  the  work  cannot  interest  unless  the  man  is 
using  his  mental  as  well  as  his  physical  powers.  There  is  noth- 
ing creative  about  purely  physical,  muscular  effort,  as  creative 
work  begins  only  when  the  mental  powers  of  selection  and 
adaptation  of  means  to  ends  come  into  play. 

What,  therefore,  has  happened  to  the  creative  spirit  in  the 
progress  of  industry  from  individual  craftsmanship  to  infinitely 
divided,  standardized,  machine  production? 

The  development  of  modern  industry  has  taken  away  from 
man  the  opportunity  to  create  a  finished  article.  In  other  words, 
the  man  has  become  part  of  a  larger  individual  which  we  may 
term  an  organization.  An  industrial  organization  that  is  per- 
forming a  particular  function  in  our  industrial  life  is  really  cre- 
ating as  a  whole  what  the  individual  man  once  created  in  its 
entirety.  Therefore,  if  we  are  to  enable  this  larger  individual 
to  do  its  creative  work  well,  we  must  so  design  it  that  the  great- 
(  est  possible  number  of  men  are  conscious  of  what  the  whole 
organization  is  doing.  They  must  be  conscious  participators  in 
the  creative  process  of  the  organization,  which  must  be  so  sensi- 
tively adjusted  that  it  in  turn  will  be  conscious  of  the  welfare 
of  individual  members,  and  of  the  degree,  therefore,  of  their 
intelligent  participation  in  the  work. 

We  must  give  individuality  to  the  organization,  in  order  to 
give  individuality  to  the  men  in  the  organization. 

Of  course,  it  is  true  that  because  of  the  creation  of  this  larger 
industrial  unit,  with  its  accompanying  specialization  through  the 
aid  of  mechanical  devices,  production  has  been  enormously  in- 
creased. But  if  through  these  same  mechanical  devices  we  de- 
stroy the  individuality  of  the  workman,  the  apparent  advantage 
to  society  will  soon  be  seen  to  be  a  disadvantage.  We  cannot  get 
greater  enjoyment  out  of  life  by  simply  increasing  our  posses- 
sions, but  only  by  increasing  our  capacity  for  self-expression. 
Greater  expression  means  manifestation  of  greater  life  and 
therefore  a  fuller  realization  of  individual  capacity  which,  after 
all,  is  what  we  are  striving  for. 

It  is  useless  for  us  to  try  to  develop  an  esprit  de  corps  in 
an  organization  by  artificial  means  of  a  purely  emotional  nature. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  113 

The  only  kind  of  an  organization  that  will  have  a  permanent 
esprit  de  corps  is  the  kind  where  the  creative  power  of  the  in- 
dividual is  free  to  express  his  real  inner  spirit.  Unless  men 
intelligently  participate  in  the  production  process  the  organiza- 
tion cannot  be  efficient,  for  team  work  comes  only  when  men 
work  together  not  only  with  their  muscles  but  also  with  their 
hearts  and  minds. 

When  we  realize  that  every  industrial  organization  is  created 
by  man  and  that  he  cannot  create  something  of  which  he  does 
not  contain  at  least  the  essence  within  himself,  it  seems  to  me 
we  have  a  right  to  take  the  human  body  as  an  example  of  the 
highest  type  of  organization.  Why  not,  then,  pattern  our  sys- 
tem of  control  after  the  nervous  system  of  the  human  body, 
through  which  the  life  impulses  or  vitalizing  forces  are  dis- 
tributed to  the  bodily  structure?  .  . 

Industrial  organization,  when  consciously  patterned  after  the 
organization  of  the  human  body,  is  bound  to  cease  repressing 
the  life  principle  in  the  individual  workmen,  for  bodily  organi- 
zation in  man  does  not  repress  the  development  of  the  individual 
cells  or  the  development  of  the  individual  bodily  organs,  but 
works  consciously  to  give  them  a  greater  chance  to  express 
life.  .  . 

The  employer  may  pursue  the  shortsighted  policy  of  prevent- 
ing the  employee  from  using  his  brains  in  his  work  and  thereby 
hold  his  compensation  down  to  a  low  level,  but  he  does  not  gain 
one  single  advantage  by  doing  so.  The  result  is  simply  to  re- 
press creative  effort  and,  what  is  even  worse,  to  deflect  creative 
power  into  destructive  channels. 

Practically  all  the  destructive  forces  at  work  in  the  industrial 
world  today,  which  are  manifested  in  organized  efforts  to  re- 
duce production,  are  the  results  of  this  autocratic  domination 
of  the  wills  of  the  workmen  by  forcing  them  into  an  environ- 
ment where  free  self-expression  is  an  impossibility. 

By  destructive  forces,  I  mean  the  sabotage  methods  exhibited 
by  certain  aspects  of  the  I.W.W.  and  Bolsheviki  movements. 
We  cannot  repress  the  creative  process  in  the  individual ;  we 
can  only  deflect  it  into  useless  channels,  or  what  is  worse  still, 
into  destructive  channels. 

For  example:  Let  us  liken  the  individual  to  a  steam  power 
plant,  into  the  boilers  of  which  fuel  (food)  and  water  are  con- 
stantly being  fed  to  keep  up  the  internal  energy.  This  power 


ii4  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

plant  can  do  useful  work  by  allowing  the  result  of  this  internal 
combustion  (digestion  and  respiration),  the  steam,  to  pass 
through  the  cylinders  of  the  engine,  thereby  making  the  energy 
in  the  fuel  available  for  useful  work.  If,  however,  the  steam 
pipe  to  the  engine  is  plugged  and  the  boilers  are  still  being  fired, 
by  properly  bringing  together  fuel,  air  and  water,  we  must  allow 
the  steam  (energy)  to  escape  through  the  safety  valve,  and  so 
dissipate  it  into  the  surrounding  atmosphere. 

The  word  dissipate  is  significant  when  applied  to  man.  If 
this  relief  is  not  provided,  the  accumulated  pressure  will  build 
up  until  the  whole  plant  will  explode  and  destroy  itself,  and  in 
so  doing  may  destroy  and  injure  many  other  useful  devices 
which  have  been  laboriously  created  by  man. 

The  employer  who  dams  up  the  channels  of  useful  construc- 
tive work  by  preventing  intelligent  (conscious)  self-expression 
of  the  individual  workman,  is  just  as  sensible  as  the  engineer 
who  shuts  off  his  main  steam  valve  to  the  engine  and  then  sits 
on  the  safety  valve  of  the  boiler.  The  laws  of  nature  are 
destined  to  operate  always  in  the  same  way,  and  if  a  man 
wilfully  disobeys  them,  they  will  break  him.  .  . 

We  must  not  forget  we  can  only  have  a  great  art  where  the 
organized  facts  which  record  the  science  are  so  complete  and 
comprehensive  that  the  individual  who  wishes  to  express  the 
art  can  master  the  natural  laws  recorded  in  the  science. 

In  conclusion,  does  not  the  problem  after  all  resolve  itself 
into  a  conscious  realization  of  man's  part  in  the  great  universal 
creative  plan? 

As  has  been  previously  indicated,  industry  has  to  do  with 
three  great  fields. 

On  the  one  hand  we  have  the  field  of  natural  or  universal 
activity,  which  functions  according  to  pre-determined  law.  The 
so  called  exact  sciences,  such  as  chemistry,  physics,  and  me- 
chanics, record  the  operations  in  this  field.  It  has  to  do  with 
our  raw  materials. 

On  the  other  hand  we  have  the  field  of  plant  unity — that 
"spirit  of  the  whole,"  which  reflects  itself  as  esprit  de  corps. 
It  is  this  that  we  must  develop  if  the  plant  is  to  become  a 
creative  center  for  consciously  specializing  nature's  laws. 

Between  the  field  of  natural  or  universal  activity  and  the 
field  of  plant  unity  we  have  that  great  field  which  we  may  call 
The  Will  of  Man.  For  man  considered  generically  forms  the 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  115 

one  connecting  link  between  these  two  fields.  As  an  individual, 
he  is  free  to  work  with  or  against  the  great  law  of  natural 
evolution;  that  is,  constructively  or  destructively,  and  this  fact 
emancipates  him  from  the  operation  of  the  exact  sciences.  If 
the  employer  attempts  to  confine  or  repress  this  free  spirit  in 
the  individual  workman  by  exploitive  methods,  he  will  rebel  and 
work  against  him.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  employer  stimulates 
free  self  expression  by  encouraging  conscious,  i.e.  thoughtful, 
participation,  he  will  release  such  powerful  creative  forces 
within  the  organization  that  no  obstacles  will  be  too  great  to 
be  overcome. 

When  most  industrial  institutions  are  organized  along  these 
lines,  men  will  begin  to  realize  that  they  are  free  only  when 
they  conform  to  natural  law. 

The  main  function  of  the  administration  division  is  to  pro- 
vide an  environment  in  which  the  greatest  possible  number  of 
men  in  the  production  divisions  have  the  very  best  opportunity-^ 
to  express  their  individual  creative  power  in  constructive  work. 
And  it  is  the  main  function  of  the  supply  division  to  provide 
a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  most  suitable  materials  in  order  to 
develop  the  highest  type  of  organized  creative  power. 

Ther.£  is  no  other  way  to  eliminate  industrial  unrest,  for 
man  is  not  an  animal,  but  a  free,  self-determining,  mental 
center  of  consciousness,  who  exists  that  the  universal  life  can 
deal  with  a  particular  situation  in  time  and  space,  and  thereby 
be  enabled  to  evolve  a  material  universe  organized  to  express 
the  one  great  individual  life  of  which  we  are  all  a  part. 


VI.   LABOR   TRAITS  AND  CROWD 
BEHAVIOR 

Labor  groups  are  like  other  human  groups  in  no  more  thorough 
way  than  in  their  "get  together"  instinct.  Human  beings  have 
a  deep  instinctive  craving  for  solidarity,  for  group  loyalty,  for 
devotion  to  a  common  cause.  A  mass  of  individuals  whose 
everyday  experience  gives  them  something  fundamental  in  com- 
mon respond  to  a  basic  psychological  drive  by  joining  some 
definite  party,  club,  association  or  union.  The  energies  of  the 
herd  instinct  are  among  the  most  compelling  and  inexhaustible 
of  all  the  instincts.  Industry  has  been  reluctant  to  admit  the 
power  of  this  natural  energy  in  labor.  It  has  been  frequently 
taken  for  granted  that  policies  to  keep  the  workers  from  joining 
labor  groups  could  abolish  the  herd  instinct.  From  the  stand- 
point of  any  number  of  business  men,  the  individualistic  laborer 
must  be  preserved  at  any  cost.  In  this  attitude,  they  misconceive 
the  grip  of  a  natural  human  tendency  toward  group  action  and 
group  loyalty  on  the  part  of  the  workers,  with  results  that  are 
measured  in  terms  of  thwarted  instincts,  industrial  bitterness, 
and  smothered  unrest.  Psychology  brings  to  business  the  funda- 
mental message  that  the  impulse  to  feel,  think,  plan,  work  and 
act  as  a  herd,  as  a  labor  group  cannot  be  killed,  but  that  it  can 
be  guided,  directed  and  controlled  in  ways  which  make  for 
good  will  and  efficiency.  Any  policy  of  management  aimed  at 
smashing  the  group  feeling  of  a  community  of  workers  and  at 
undermining  the  sense  of  solidarity  of  working  groups  leads  to 
a  needless  industrial  bitterness.  Sound  constructive  policies 
undertake  to  bring  out  the  great  latent  sources  of  energy, 
loyalty,  morale  in  the  herd  instinct  and  to  relate  them  to  indus- 
trial output  and  industrial  contentment. 

Where  such  policies  as  the  open  shop,  local  collective  bar- 
gaining, injunctions  or  company  unions  are  undertaken  for  the 
primary  purpose  of  blocking  the  "stick  together"  impulses  of 
labor  groups,  managers  do  indeed  thwart  certain  forms  of 
expression  for  those  impulses.  But  unless  manager's  are  able  to 


nS  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

direct  these  impulses  into  safe  and  efficient  forms  of  expres- 
sion, to  thwart  them  is  almost  sure  to  store  up  large  troubles 
for  the  future.  The  herd  instinct  demands  expression  and 
unless  employers  are  ingenious  enough  to  devise  sound  methods 
of  expression,  the  instinct  will  reappear  in  forms  of  industrial 
antagonism  and  warfare.  This  psychological  lesson  is  funda- 
mental, and  it  is  written  large  in  the  industrial  experiences  of 
this  country  and  of  European  countries  during  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century. 


THE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  HUMAN  HERDS1 

It  is  desirable  perhaps  to  enumerate  in  a  summary  way  the 
more  obvious  gregarious  characters  which  man  displays. 

1.  He   is   intolerant   and   fearful   of    solitude,    physical    or 
mental.     This  intolerance  is  the  cause  of  the  mental  fixity  and 
intellectual  incuriousness  which,  to  a  remarkable  degree  for  an 
animal  with  so  capacious  a  brain,  he  constantly  displays.     As  is 
well  known,  the  resistance  to  a  new  idea  is  always  primarily  a 
matter  of  prejudice,  the  development  of  intellectual  objections, 
just  or  otherwise,  being  a  secondary  process  in  spite  of  the  com- 
mon delusion  to  the  contrary.    This  intimate  dependence  on  the 
herd  is  traceable  not  merely  in  matters  physical  and  intellectual, 
but  also  betrays  itself  in  the  deepest  recesses  of  personality  as  a 
sense  of  incompleteness  which  compels  the  individual  to  reach 
out   toward    some    larger    existence    than    his    own,    some    en- 
compassing being  in  whom  his  perplexities  may  find  a  solution 
and  his  longings  peace.    Physical  loneliness  and  intellectual  iso- 
lation are  effectually  solaced  by  the  nearness  and  agreement  of 
the  herd.  .  . 

2.  He  is  more  sensitive  to  the  voice  of  the  herd  than  to  any 
other  influence.    It  can  inhibit  or  stimulate  his  thought  and  con- 
duct    It  is  the  source  of  his  moral  codes,  of  the  sanctions  of 
his  ethics  and  philosophy.    It  can  endow  him  with  energy',  cour- 
age and  endurance,  and  can  as  easily  take  these  away.     It  can 
make  him  acquiesce  in  his   own   punishment  and   embrace   his 
executioner,  submit  to  poverty,  bow  to  tyranny,  and  sink  without 
complaint  under  starvation.    Not  merely  can  it  make  him  accept 

1  William  Trotter.    Instincts  of  the  Herd  in  Peace  and  War.     p.  112-20. 
T.   Fisher  Unwin.     London.     1916. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  119 

hardship  and  suffering  unresistingly,  but  it  can  make  him  accept 
as  truth  the  explanation  that  his  perfectly  preventable  afflictions 
are  sublimely  just  and  gentle.  It  is  in  this  acme  of  the  power 
of  herd  suggestion  that  is  perhaps  the  most  absolutely  incontest- 
able proof  of  the  profoundly  gregarious  nature  of  man.  .  . 

3.  He  is  subject  to  the  passions  of  the  pack  in  his  mob 
violence  and  the  passions  of  the  herd  in  his  panics.     These  ac- 
tivities   are   by   no   means   limited   to    the    outbursts    of    actual 
crowds,  but  are  to  be  seen  equally  clearly  in  the  hue  and  cry 
of   newspapers    and   public    after   some    notorious    criminal    or 
scapegoat,  and  in  the  success  of  scaremongering  by  the  same 
agencies. 

4.  He  is  remarkably  susceptible  to  leadership.     This  quality 
in  man  may  very  naturally  be  thought  to  have  a  basis  essentially 
rational  rather  than  instinctive  if  its  manifestations  are  not  re- 
garded  with   a   special   effort   to   attain   an   objective   attitude. 
How  thoroughly  reasonable  it  appears  that  a  body  of  men  seek- 
ing a  common  object  should  put  themselves  under  the  guidance 
of  some  strong  and  expert  personality  who  can  point  out  the 
path  most  profitably  to  be  pursued,  who  can  hearten  his   fol- 
lowers and  bring  all  their  various  powers   into   a  harmonious 
pursuit  of  the  common  object.     The  rational  basis  of  the  rela- 
tion is,  however,  seen  to  be  at  any  rate  open  to  discussion  when 
we  consider  the  qualities  in  a  leader  upon  which  his  authority 
so  often  rests,  for  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  their  appeal  is 
more  generally  to  instinct  than  to  reason.  .  . 


MODERN  INDUSTRY  CALLS  FOR  VAST  HUMAN 
ASSOCIATIONS  * 

A  profound  development  in  our  economic  system  apart  from 
control  of  capital  and  service  during  the  last  score  of  years  has 
been  the  great  growth  and  consolidation  of  voluntary  local  or 
national  associations.  These  associations  represent  great  eco- 
nomic groups  of  common  purpose  and  are  quite  apart  from  the 
great  voluntary  group  created  solely  for  public  service.  We  have 
the  growth  of  great  employers'  associations,  great  farmers'  asso- 
ciations, great  bankers'  associations,  great  labor  associations,  all 

1  Herbert  C.  Hoover.  Address  before  the  Federation  of  Engineering  So- 
cieties, Washington,  D.C.  November  20,  1921. 


120  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

economic  groups  striving  by  political  agitation,  propaganda  and 
other  measures  to  advance  group  interest.  At  times  they  come 
to  sharp  conflict  with  each  other  and  often  enough  charge  each 
other  with  crimes  against  public  interest. 

And  to  me  the  one  question  to  the  successful  development  of 
our  economic  system  rests  upon  whether  we  can  turn  the  aspects 
of  these  great  national  associations  toward  coordination  with 
each  other  in  the  solution  of  national  economic  problems  or 
whether  they  shall  grow  into  groups  for  violent  conflict.  The 
latter  can  spell  breakdown  to  our  entire  national  life.  .  . 

One  of  the  great  conflicts  rumbling  in  the  distance  is  that 
between  the  employer  on  one  side  and  organized  labor  on  the 
other. 

We  hear  a  great  deal  from  extremists  on  one  side  about  the 
domination  of  the  employer  and  on  the  other  about  the  domina- 
tion of  organized  labor.  The  tendency  to  domination  probably 
exists  among  extremists  on  both  sides.  One  of  the  most  com- 
plexing  difficulties  in  all  discussion  and  action  in  these  problems 
is  to  eliminate  this  same  extremist.  There  are  certain  areas  of 
conflict  of  interest,  but  there  is  between  these  groups  a  far 
greater  area  of  common  interest  and  if  we  can  find  measures  by 
which  through  cooperation  the  field  of  common  interest  can  be 
organized,  then  the  area  of  conflict  could  be  in  the  largest  degree 
eliminated. 


GROUP  SPIRIT  AND  GROUP  MIND  1 

In  considering  the  mental  life  of  a  patriot  army,  as  the  type 
of  a  highly  organized  group,  we  saw  that  group  self-conscious- 
ness is  a  factor  of  very  great  importance — that  it  is  a  principal 
condition  of  the  elevation  of  its  collective  mental  life  and 
behavior  above  the  level  of  the  merely  impulsive  violence  and 
unreasoning  fickleness  of  the  mob. 

This  self-consciousness  of  the  group  is  the  essential  condition 
of  all  higher  group  life;  we  must  therefore  study  it  more 
nearly  as  it  is  manifested  in  groups  of  various  types.  It  is 
unfortunate  that  our  language  has  no  word  that  accurately 
translates  the  French  expression,  esprit  de  corps;  for  this 

1  William  McDougall.  The  Group  Mind.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.  New 
York  and  London.  1920. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  121 

conveys  exactly  the  conception  that  we  are  examining.  I  propose 
to  use  the  term  group  spirit  as  the  equivalent  of  the  French 
expression,  the  frequent  use  of  which  in  English  speech  and 
writing  sufficiently  justifies  the  attempt  to  specialize  this  com- 
pound word  for  psychological  purposes. 

We  have  seen  that,  in  virtue  of  the  sentiment  developed 
about  the  idea  of  the  army,  all  its  members  exhibit  group 
loyalty;  it  is  only  as  the  sentiment  develops  about  the  idea 
that  this  idea  of  the  whole,  present  to  the  mind  of  each  member, 
becomes  a  power  which  can  hold  the  whole  group  together,  in 
spite  of  all  physical  and  moral  difficulties.  We  see  this  if  we 
reflect  how  armies  of  mercenaries,  in  which  collective  sentiment 
is  lacking  or  rudimentary  only,  are  apt  to  dissolve  and  fade 
away  by  desertion  as  soon  as  serious  difficulties  are  encountered, 

The  importance  of  the  collective  idea  and  sentiment  appears 
still  more  clearly,  when  we  reflect  on  the  type  of  army  which 
has  generally  proved  the  most  efficient  of  all — namely,  an  army 
of  volunteers  banded  together  to  achieve  some  particular  end. 
Such  an  army  (for  example  the  army  of  Garibaldi)  owes  its 
existence  to  the  operation  of  this  idea  in  the  minds  of  all.  The 
idea  of  the  army  is  formed  in  the  mind  perhaps  of  one  only 
(Garibaldi)  ;  he  communicates  it  to  others,  who  accept  it  as  a 
means  to  the  end  desired  by  all  of  them  individually.  The  idea 
of  the  whole  thus  operates  to  create  the  group,  to  bring  it  into 
existence ;  and  then,  as  the  idea  is  realized^  it  becomes  more 
definite,  of  richer  and  more  exact  meaning;  the  collective  senti- 
ment grows  up  about  it,  and  habit  and  formal  organization 
begin  to  aid  in  holding  the  group  together;  yet  still  the  idea 
of  the  whole  remains  constitutive  of  the  whole. 

Any  group  that  owes  its  creation  and  its  continued  existence 
to  the  collective  idea  may  be  regarded  from  the  psychological 
standpoint  as  of  the  highest  type;  while  a  fortuitously  gathered 
crowd  that  owes  its  existence  to  accidents  of  time  and  place 
and  has  the  barest  minimum  of  group  self-consciousness  is  of 
the  lowest  type.  Every  other  form  of  association  or  of  human 
group  may  be  regarded  as  occupying  a  position  in  a  scale 
between  these  extreme  types;  according  to  the  relative  predom- 
inance of  the  mental  or  the  physical  conditions  in  its  origin  and 
continuance,  that  is  to  say,  according  to  the  degree  in  which  its 
existence  is  teleologically  or  mechanically  determined. 

The  group  spirit,  the  idea  of  the  group  with  the  sentiment 


122  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

of  devotion  to  the  group  developed  in  the  minds  of  all  its 
members,  not  only  serves  as  a  bond  that  holds  the  group  together 
or  even  creates  it,  but,  as  we  saw  in  the  case  of  the  patriot 
army,  it  renders  possible  truly  collective  volition;  this  in  turn 
renders  the  actions  of  the  group  much  more  resolute  and 
effective  than  they  could  be,  so  long  as  its  actions  proceed  merely 
from  the  presence  of  an  impulse  common  to  all  members,  or 
from  the  strictly  individual  volitions  of  all,  even  though  these 
be  directed  to  one  common  end. 

Again,  the  group  spirit  plays  an  important  part  in  raising  the 
intellectual  level  of  the  group;  for  it  leads  each  member  delib- 
erately to  subordinate  his  own  judgment  and  opinion  to  that 
of  the  whole ;  and,  in  any  properly  organized  group,  this  collective 
opinion  will  be  superior  to  that  of  the  average  individual,  because 
in  its  formation  the  best  minds,  acting  upon  the  fullest  know- 
ledge to  the  gathering  of  which  all  may  contribute,  will  be  of 
predominant  influence.  Each  member,  then,  willing  the  common 
end,  accepts  the  means  chosen  by  the  organized  collective  deliber- 
ation, and,  in  executing  the  actions  prescribed  for  him,  makes 
them  his  own  immediate  ends  and  truly  wills  them  for  the 
sake  of  the  whole,  not  executing  them  in  the  spirit  of  merely 
mechanical  unintelligent  obedience  or  even  of  reluctance. 

In  a  similar  way  the  group  spirit  aids  in  raising  the  moral 
level  of  an  army.  The  organized  whole  embodies  certain  tradi- 
tional sentiments,  especially  sentiments  of  admiration  for  certain 
moral  qualities,  courage,  endurance,  trustworthiness,  and  cheer- 
ful obedience;  and  these  sentiments,  permeating  the  whole,  are 
impressed  upon  every  member,  especially  new  members,  by  way 
of  mass  suggestion  and  sympathetic  contagion ;  every  new 
recruit  finds  that  his  comrades  accept  without  question  these 
traditional  moral  sentiments  and  confidently  express  moral 
judgments  upon  conduct  and  character  in  accordance  with  them, 
and  that  they  also  display  the  corresponding  emotional  reactions 
toward  acts;  that  is  to  say,  they  express  in  verbal  judgments 
and  in  emotional  reactions  their  scorn  for  treachery  or 
cowardice,  their  admiration  for  courageous  self-sacrifice  and 
devotion  to  duty.  The  recruit  quickly  shares  by  contagion  these 
moral  emotions  and  soon  finds  his  judgment  determined  to 
share  these  opinions  by  the  weight  of  mass  suggestion ;  for  these 
moral  propositions  come  to  him  with  all  the  irresistible  force  of 
opinion  held  by  the  group  and  expressed  by  its  unanimous 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  123 

voice;  and  this  force  is  not  merely  the  force  derived  from 
numbers,  but  is  also  the  force  of  the  prestige  accumulated  by 
the  whole  group,  the  prestige  of  old  and  well-tried  tradition, 
the  prestige  of  age;  and  the  more  fully  the  consciousness  of 
the  whole  group  is  present  to  the  mind  of  each  member,  the 
more  effectively  will  the  whole  impress  its  moral  precepts 
upon  each. 

And  the  organization  of  the  army  renders  it  possible  for  the 
leaders  to  influence  and  to  mould  the  form  of  these  moral 
opinions  and  sentiments.  .  . 

But  the  main  point  to  be  insisted  on  here  is  that  the  raising 
of  the  moral  level  is  not  affected  only  by  example,  suggestion, 
and  emotional  contagion,  spreading  from  those  in  the  positions 
of  prestige;  that,  where  the  group  spirit  exists,  those  enjoying 
prestige  can,  if  they  wish,  greatly  promote  the  end  of  raising 
the  moral  tone  of  the  whole  by  appealing  to  that  group  spirit ; 
as  when  Lord  Kitchener  asked  the  men  to  obey  his  injunctions 
for  the  sake  of  the  honor  of  the  British  army. 

And  the  group  spirit  not  only  yields  this  direct  response  to 
moral  exhortation;  it  operates  in  another  no  less  important 
manner.  Each  member  of  a  group  pervaded  by  the  collective 
sentiment,  such  as  a  well-organized  army  of  high  traditions,  be- 
comes in  a  special  sense  his  brother's  keeper.  Each  feels  an  in- 
terest in  the  conduct  of  every  other  member,  because  the  conduct 
of  each  affects  the  reputation  of  the  whole;  each  man,  therefore, 
punishes  bad  conduct  of  any  fellow-soldier  by  scorn  and  by 
withdrawal  of  sympathy  and  companionship;  and  each  one  re- 
wards with  praise  and  admiration  the  conduct  that  conforms  to 
the  standards  demanded  and  admired.  And  so  each  member  acts 
always  under  the  jealous  eyes  of  all  his  fellows,  under  the  threat 
of  general  disapprobation,  contempt,  and  moral  isolation  for  bad 
conduct;  under  the  promise  of  general  approval  and  admiration 
for  any  act  of  special  excellence. 


GROUP  RESTRICTION  OF  OUTPUT1 

What  about  restrictions  of  output?     Everybody  knows  that 
in  good  times  working  people  "lay  down"  on  the  job,  no  matter 

1  John   R.   Commons.     Trade  Unionism   and  Labor  Problems.     2&  ser. 
p.   6,    7,   9.      Ginn   and   Company.     1921. 


124  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

whether  organized  workers  or  not.  People  do  not  work;  as  hard 
in  good  times  as  they  do  in  hard  times.  We  have  the  curious 
paradox  that  in  good  times,  when  we  ought  to  increase  the  out- 
put, labor  restricts  the  output;  and  in  hard  times,  when  we  don't 
want  people  to  work  so  hard  and  increase  the  supply  of  produc- 
tion, then  they  work  the  hardest.  A  business  man  does  not  con- 
duct his  business  in  that  way.  In  good  times,  when  prices  are 
going  up,  he  tries  to  increase  his  output;  in  hard  times,  when 
prices  are  falling,  he  tries  to  restrict  his  output — he  does  not 
buy  more  than  he  can  sell.  In  other  words,  labor  works  just 
the  opposite  of  business.  In  good  times,  when  prices  are  up, 
then  is  when  labor  "lays  down"  on  the  job  and  refuses  to  in- 
crease the  output  and  keep  up  the  supply.  In  hard  times,  when 
the  demand  has  fallen  off,  then  is  when  labor  works  the  hardest 
'and  turns  out  the  most  production.  It  surely  seems  that  we 
have  been  going  on  a  wrong  hypothesis  in  dealing  with  labor. 
It  works  out  all  right  in  dealing  with  marketing  and  commodi- 
ties, but  labor  seems  to  work  just  the  opposite. 

We  have  been  going  on  the  theory  that  in  order  to  get  effi- 
ciency, in  order  to  get  output,  in  order  to  get  laborers  to  work, 
there  must  be  some  kind  of  a  penalty  held  over  the  workingman 
— the  penalty  of  unemployment,  the  penalty  of  being  discharged 
if  he  does  not  work,  if  he  does  not  do  his  duty,  if  he  is  not  on 
the  job.  It  is  then  that  he  suffers  the  penalty  of  being  dis- 
charged from  his  job.  Our  method  has  been  the  rough  method 
of  disciplining  labor  by  the  penalty  of  unemployment. 

That  penalty  does  not  work  in  good  times;  it  works  too 
much  in  hard  times.  In  good  times  the  workman  is  not  afraid 
of  unemployment.  What's  the  use?  If  he  is  discharged,  he  can 
go  across  the  street  and  get  another  job.  In  hard  times,  when 
we  don't  want  so  much  produced,  then  he  works  hard  because 
he  is  afraid  of  unemployment  and  cannot  go  across  the  street 
and  get  another  job.  The  psychology  of  labor,  both  in  good  and 
in  hard  times,  i?  fundamentally  the  psychology  of  a  class 
of  people  whose  iife  is  insecure,  who  are  subject  to  rough  meth- 
ods of  discipline.  We  cannot  understand  the  problem  of  dealing 
with  labor  unless  we  understand  that  fundamental  fact  of  in- 
security of  employment.  It  is  just  as  vicious  in  good  times  as  it 
is  in  hard  times.  In  good  times  the  workingman's  high  wages 
are  an  injury  to  him;  he  gets  too  much  money,  and  he  does  not 
know  what  to  do  with  it  and  spends  it  extravagantly, — burns  it 
up, — and  when  the  hard  times  come  he  has  nothing  to  fall  back 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  125 

upon.  The  fluctuation  of  earnings — great  earnings  in  good 
times,  falling  off  in  hard  times — is  demoralizing  to  the  character 
of  working  people. 

If  we  have  to  depend  upon  the  rough  method  of  discharge 
for  getting  efficiency,  then  we  are  going  to  keep  labor  continually 
unstable  and  uncertain,  and  the  character  of  the  workingman 
will  not  rise  to  the  occasion  of  modern  industry. 

Now  capitalism  is  to  blame  because  it  has  not  offered,  as  yet, 
to  labor  that  security  of  the  job  which  it  has  to  the  investors 
in  the  security  of  their  investments.  Capitalism  is  threatened 
because  it  has  not  furnished  the  working  people  a  similar  secur- 
ity to  that  which  it  has  furnished  to  the  investors.  The  work- 
ingmen  are  getting  the  idea  throughout  the  world  that  the  ele- 
ments that  produce  wealth  are  the  workingmen  and  the  man- 
agement; and  we  have  the  Plumb  plan,  in  which  two  million 
workers  in  the  United  States  come  forth  to  oust  the  credit  sys- 
tem and  let  simply  management  and  labor  produce  the  wealth  of 
the  country.  They  would  destroy  the  thing  upon  which  the 
credit  of  the  railroads  is  built,  because  they  think  that  the  pro- 
ducing elements  are  management  and  labor. 

Well,  that  is  much  the  same  idea  that  they  have  in  Russia, 
and  that  is  the  fundamental  notion  of  modern  laboring  people 
spreading  throughout  the  world.  They  do  not  appreciate  that 
modern  capitalism  is  based  on  faith  in  the  future;  they  have  not 
themselves  been  given  that  same  security.  Capitalism  to  them 
is  autocracy  and  insecurity.  They  have  tried  to  get  security  by 
rough  methods.  Trade-unionism,  closed  shop,  union  shop,  and 
so  on  are  their  methods  of  obtaining  security  of  the  job.  Not 
until  the  capitalistic  system,  not  until  the  great  financial  interests 
that  control  this  country,  have  learned  that  it  is  just  as  im- 
portant to  furnish  security  for  the  job  as  it  is  to  furnish  security 
for  the  investment  will  we  have  a  permanent  provision  for  in- 
dustrial peace. 


GROUP  BEHAVIOR  AND  LABOR  INCENTIVES  l 

The  Great  War  brought  it  sharply  to  our  attention  that  "men 
work  together."    In  the  war,  all  society  worked  at  one  definite, 

1  L.  C.  Marshall.  Address  on  Incentive  and  Output  before  the  Con- 
vention of  the  Industrial  Relations  Association  of  America,  at  Chicago, 
May  19,  1920.  Journal  of  Political  Economy.  Vol.  28.  p.  713-14,  715-16, 
732-4- 


126  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

almost  visible,  task.  In  performing  that  task  we  soon  found 
that  modern  war  is  no  story  of  quickly  prepared  armies  leaping 
from  spring  boards  to  occasional  battles.  It  involved  welding 
together  to  accomplish  an  objective,  all  the  people  and  all  the 
forces  of  the  nation  concerned;  its  men,  women,  and  children, 
its  manufactures,  its  schools,  its  churches — everybody  and  every- 
thing. In  time  of  war,  men  must  work  together. 

But  it  is  generally  true  that  men  must  work  together  in  time 
of  peace.  True,  the  objectives  of  peace  are  not  so  simple  and 
tangible  as  those  of  war,  and  accordingly  our  cooperation  is  not 
so  evident.  The  organization  of  our  productive  resources  for 
the  gratification  of  human  wants  is  a  much  more  vague  and 
many-sided  process  than  their  organization  for  the  slaughter  of 
human  beings.  Partly  because  of  .this  vagueness  of  peace-time 
objectives,  we  often  fail  to  see  clearly  that  the  methods  used  to 
attain  these  objectives  are  similar  to  those  used  to  attain  the 
objectives  of  war.  Men  are  brought  to  work  together. 

Fundamentally,  the  problem  of  working  together  today  is  one 
of  knitting  together  the  specialists  and  specialized  institutions 
of  modern  society.  In  the  interests  of  increased  production 
capacity  we  have  specialized  our  capital,  our  technological 
processes,  our  workers,  our  knowledge,  our  management,  our 
producing  territories — everything.  In  the  case  of  the  workers, 
this  has  meant  that  the  non-specialized  worker  of  earlier  ages 
has  become  the  worker  in  a  single  trade  or  occupation,  as,  for 
example,  the  lawyer,  the  physician,  or  the  all-round  mechanic; 
and  these,  in  their  turn,  have  been  split  up  into  the  workers 
who  concern  themselves  with  only  one  trade  or  occupation,  as, 
for  example,  the  diagnostician,  or  the  ordinary  machinist;  and 
these  process  specialists  have,  in  their  turn  (provided  the 
market  has  been  wide  enough  to  make  it  profitable),  been  split 
up  into  workers  in  detailed  operations,  such  as  the  narrow 
machine  specialist.  Now,  these  thousand  upon  thousand  of 
specialists  must  be  knitted  together  into  a  great  producing 
mechanism,  if  society  is  to  gratify  its  wants  and  secure  all  those 
intangibles  making  for  human  progress.  So  also  must  the 
specialized  capital,  knowledge,  and  management  be  knitted 

together. 

*  *  * 

As  much  as  forty  years  ago  there  had  clearly  emerged,  for 
those  who  cared  to  see,  a  strong  suspicion  shared  both  by 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  127 

workers  and  management  that  all  was  not  well  with  wage  as 
a  sole  incentive.  Towne  and  Taylor,  who  sensed  many  things 
ahead  of  their  time,  saw  the  situation.  It  is  no  accident  that 
one  of  Taylor's  early  contributions  concerned  itself  with  methods 
of  wage  payment  and  that  he  sought,  at  least,  a  wage  which  was 
"psychologically  correct."  Others  in  the  management  group  saw 
it  also,  but  few  so  clearly.  In  a  bewildered,  trial-and-error  way 
they  tinkered  with  other  devices — with  profit  sharing,  with 
welfare  work,  with  this  and  that  miscellaneous  practice — and 
their  tinkering  was  a  confession  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  wage 
incentive  acting  alone  or  largely  alone.  The  "will  to  do"  that 
meant  increased  output  at  lowered  cost  of  production  was  not 
present  among  the  workers. 

And  this  might  have  been  expected.  The  spectacular  events, 
for  example,  the  trust  movement  and  the  passing  of  the  frontier, 
which  marked  the  coming  in  of  our  current  stage  of  industrial- 
ism sank  into  the  minds  of  the  workers  as  a  warning  that  the 
day  of  automatic  and  easy  rise  to  responsible  positions  had 
really  passed.  There  came  to  them  a  realization  of  what  the 
forces  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  had,  unguided,  wrought. 
And  they  were  not  minded  to  acquiesce,  for  belief  in  a  beneficent 
"natural  order"  of  things  had  yielded,  thanks  to  the  influence 
of  Darwin,  to  an  evolutionary  philosophy  which  demanded 
improvement  and  it  yielded  the  more  readily  because  many 
happenings,  had,  as  we  have  seen,  engendered  distrust,  suspicion, 
and  fear.  In  default  of  intelligent  action  by  either  management 
or  society,  the  workers  turned  naturally  and  properly  to  a 
device  of  their  own  with  which  they  had  long  experimented — 
the  union.  That  their  earlier,  and  indeed  their  present,  demands 
were  formulated  in  terms  of  the  gain  spirit  which  seemed  to 
them  the  characteristic  thing  in  industry,  that  they  sought  and 
still  do  seek  more  wages,  and  more  and  more,  deceives  no  one 
who  watches  more  than  surface  indications.  Wages  alone  will 
not  bring  contentment  in  such  an  impersonal  specialized  society 
as  ours.  Wages  alone  cannot  bring  men  to  work  effectively. 
It,  unaided,  will  not  remove  sourness,  suspicion,  and  hostility. 
Powerful  as  it  is,  valuable  as  it  is  when  wisely  used,  it  must  be 
linked  with  the  forces  making  for  pride  of  workmanship,  interest 
in  work,  knowledge  of  worth-whileness  to  society,  security  of 
economic  and  social  position,  and  sense  of  responsibility,  before 
we  shall  unlock  those  vast  resources  of  human  energy  which 


128  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

now  lie   dormant  because  we  have  not  given  thought   to  the 
fashioning  of  keys  which  will  free  "the  will  to  do." 

Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves  concerning  the  significance  of 
this  "will  to  do."  It  involves  no  mere  unthinking  performance 
of  "an  honest  day's  work,"  whatever  that  may  mean.  It  implies 
the  calling  forth  of  those  latent  powers  which  emerge  in  the 
joy  of  doing,  and  doing  understandingly — in  the  joy  of  intelligent 
service.  The  magnitude  of  those  latent  powers  we  cannot  even 
guess,  though  hints  have  been  given  each  of  us  in  our  own 
experiences,  and  the  sense  of  waste  is  appalling  when  we  reflect 
that  such  powers  grow  by  utilization.  Perhaps,  both  inside 
and  outside  the  factory,  we  are  not  realizing  on  one-quarter  of 
the  human  resources  which  would  be  called  into  being  if  men 
worked  together  understandingly  with  a  real  "will  to  do," — 
perhaps  not  one-tenth,  perhaps  not  one-twentieth.  Who  knows? 
We  merely  know  that  the  waste  is  enormous. 

Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves,  either,  concerning  the  difficulties 
in  calling  forth  this  will  to  do.  Generations  of  sour  distrust 
must  be  lived  down  and  that  cannot  happen  until  the  sources  of 
distrust  have  been  removed.  Even  after  the  sources  of  distrust 
have  been  removed,  there  must  yet  come  understanding,  and 
this  involves  both  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  the  place  of 
industry  and  of  specialists  in  social  progress.  Not  only  are 
the  difficulties  great,  but  cooperation  in  solving  them  will  come 
grudgingly.  The  prevailing  attitude  of  hard-headed  management 
is  doubtful,  if  not  frankly  antagonistic,  toward  such  an  enter- 
prise. The  prevailing  indifference  of  society  at  large  (witness 
the  lack,  in  our  elementary  and  secondary  school  systems,  of 
studies  leading  to  an  understanding  of  our  social  relationships) 
bodes  ill  for  effective  cooperation  by  society,  notwithstanding 
the  present  hectic  interest  in  "Americanization."  The  prevailing 
attitude  of  the  worker,  one  of  indifference  tempered  with  distrust 
and  hostility,  means  much  cultivation  before  even  seeds  can  be 
sown.  Nevertheless,  the  game  is  worth  the  candle.  Even  if  he 
can  make  a  few  staggering  steps  toward  the  ultimate  goal,  the 
personnel  manager  must  keep  it  before  him.  Men  must  be  brought 
to  work  together  effectively,  and  full  effectiveness  can  come  only 
with  the  will  to  do.  Administration  of  incentives  must  be  in 
terms  of  that  outstanding  fact. 

*  *  * 

Few  will  require  evidence  to  convince  that  we  have  made  the 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES,  129 

merest  beginnings  of  scientific  knowledge  concerning  good 
physical  location,  good  physical  plant  and  equipment,  good  human 
machines,  both  mentally  and  physically,  good  "will  to  do,"  good 
organization  and  administration,  good  social  environment.  It  so 
happens  that  our  knowledge  is  particularly  limited  in  the  field 
with  which  this  discussion  is  largely  concerned — the  development 
of  a  good  "will  to  do,"  but  in  all  these  fields  there  lies  some 
challenge  to  our  keenest  thought. 

To  begin  with,  we  know  very  little  concerning  the  psycholog- 
ical nature  in  terms  of  the  effectiveness  of  various  incentives. 
True,  there  are  frequent  oracular  utterances  on  the  subject  by 
successful  business  men — utterances  which  seem,  upon  analysis, 
to  "carry"  primarily  because  of  the  dollars  behind  them.  There 
is  also  some  preliminary  work  which  has  been  done  in  the  field 
of  instincts,  but  the  well-poised  psychologists  of  today  will  tell 
us  that  the  deeps  of  human  motivation  are  still  uncharted. 

Furthermore,  our  knowledge  is  equally  limited  with  respect 
to  the  appropriate  use  of  technical  devices,  designed  to  call  the 
will  to  do  into  being.  Wage  is  generally  regarded  as  the  main 
device,  but  what  do  we  really  know  of  the  methods  of  wage 
payments?  We  know  that  the  various  methods  are  worked  out 
in  terms  of  a  basic  rate,  but  what  is  the  right  basic  rate — right 
in  calling  forth  the  will  to  do?  Is  it  the  current  rate  in  the 
community?  Suppose  the  current  rate  is  not  sufficient  to  shelter, 
clothe  and  nourish  to  the  point  where  he  is  a  good  physical 
machine ;  will  it  not  pay  society  and  the  manager  to  lift  that 
current  rate  to  a  physical  efficiency  basis?  When  it  is  attained, 
may  it  not  pay  society  and  the  manager  to  go  beyond  if  it  calls 
forth  the  will  to  do?  What  is  the  current  rate  of  wages,  any- 
how, but  a  resultant  of  social  forces,  some  of  which  are  woefully 
inefficient,  not  to  say  positively  harmful?  But  perhaps  the  right 
wage  is  a  function  of  the  manager's  costs.  What  does  the 
average  manager  know  about  his  costs  and  especially  about  the 
causes  and  conditions  lying  back  of  those  costs?  Even  when 
he  does  know,  does  what  he  can  afford  to  pay  give  any  conclusive 
finding  with  respect  to  what  he  ought  to  pay  to  call  forth  the 
will  to  do?  But  perhaps  the  right  wage  is  a  function  of  a  right 
standard  of  living.  At  the  best,  would  this  do  more  than  to 
guide  to  the  right  minimum  wage?  And  what  is  a  good  standard 
of  living?  Does  it  mean  a  good  standard  for  a  single  worker, 
or  for  a  family  of  three,  or  of  five,  or  of  fifteen?  And  what 


ijo  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

does  a  "good  standard"  mean  anyway?  We  shall  do  well  to 
admit  that  we  are  in  the  stage  of  elementary  thinking  concerning 
wage  payment  as  a  constructive  force  in  industry.  Neither  our 
economists,  nor  our  psychologists,  nor  our  uplifters,  nor  our 
hard-headed  business  men  have  solved  the  problem.  Barely  have 
they  stated  it. 

What  is  true  of  wage  payment  is  equally  true  of  the  other 
technical  devices  for  developing  the  will  to  do.  Most  of  them 
are  in  the  experimental  stage  and  there  they  are  likely,  with 
minor  improvements,  to  remain  until  more  progress  has  been 
made  in  our  understanding  of  the  psychological  nature  of  man. 
What  is  true  in  the  field  of  the  will  to  do  is  almost  equally 
true  in  the  other  fields  connected  with  abundant  output.  We 
are  in  the  merest  beginnings  of  exact  knowledge  of  such  matters 
and  research  is  a  vital  necessity. 

The  existence  of  this  organization,  the  Industrial  Relations 
Association  of  America,  and  the  interest  attaching  to  its  activ- 
ities are  signs  of  the  times.  They  indicate  a  change  of  emphasis. 
The  great  importance  of  the  technological  processes  of  industry 
is  still  recognized.  But  there  is  to  be,  in  addition,  an  increased 
attention  to  the  human  side  of  industry.  It  was  made  inevitable 
by  the  development  of  the  social  sciences,  by  the  spread  of  an 
evolutionary  democratic  philosophy,  by  the  growth  of  general 
education,  by  the  rise  of  a  new  spirit  among  the  workers,  and 
by  the  necessity  of  lower  costs  in  industry.  In  response  to  these 
developments  there  has  appeared  in  industry  a  new  functionary, 
the  personnel  manager.  The  duties  which  have  been  sketched 
as  falling  to  his  lot  are  not  duties  appropriately  bestowed  upon 
a  weakling  or  upon  a  clerk  whose  soul  has  no  aspirations 
beyond  blanks,  forms,  and  bootlicking.  They  are  the  duties  of 
a  full  grown  man  who  sees  that  his  position  is  at  the  strategic 
point  of  industry,  since  persons  enter  into  all  processes,  and  who 
accordingly  realizes  that  he,  more  than  other  lieutenants  in 
industry,  must  contribute  to  all  the  conditions  precedent  to 
abundant  output.  They  are  duties  calling  for  a  kind  of  admin- 
istrative vision  which  may  almost  be  called  statesmanlike,  for 
they  are  closely  connected  with  the  welfare  of  all  society.  The 
greatest  challenge  of  the  day  is  before  the  manager  of  personnel. 
May  he  measure  up  to  his  opportunities. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  131 

THE     CONSEQUENCES     OF     SOLIDARITY     IN 
LABOR  GROUPS  1 

T he  Psychology  of  Labor's  Attitude 

We  have  reached  a  point  in  our  argument  where  industrial 
psychology,  as  conceived  in  these  lectures,  makes  contact  with 
what  has  been  called  social  psychology.  For  the  phenomenon 
to  be  considered  here  is  a  widespread  attitude  of  will;  and,  in 
order  to  understand  this,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  the  kind  of 
effect  that  present  social  arrangements  have  upon  the  mental 
life  of  a  certain  large  body  of  persons. 

As  we  read  lists  of  complaints  made  by  labor  against  scien- 
tific management,  we  can  hardly  help  feeling,  I  think,  that  all 
the  various  items  represent  attempts  to  express  something 
which,  even  at  the  end,  remains  unexpressed.  Side  by  side  are 
placed  objections  that  are  trivial  arid  important:  as  though  the 
important  objections  were  not  adequate  to  condemn  the  system. 
A  charge  is  made:  labor  stands  back  for  a  moment,  regarding 
its  accusation.  "Yes,  that  certainly,"  it  says,  "but  also  this  too"; 
and  another  charge  is  made.  This  also  proves  insufficient,  and 
another,  and  still  another,  is  made ;  yet  the  accuser  ever  seems 
to  feel  that  all  his  charges  are  inadequate.  Hence,  he  repeats 
them  in  a  variety  of  ways,  and  rejects  none  as  too  small,  provided 
it  seems  to  tell  against  the  system. 

To  understand  this  phenomenon  we  must  begin  by  recalling 
a  very  general  proposition,  which  expresses  an  empirical  law  of 
psychology.  This  is  that  a  person  tends  to  be  indifferent  to 
whatever  does  not  seem  to  him  to  affect  his  dominant  interest 
or  purposes.  The  fact  thus  indicated  is  so  well  known  that  I 
shall  not  pause  to  illustrate  it:  I  shall  proceed  at  once  to  a 
consideration  of  the  form  in  which  it  occurs  among  industrial 
workers. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  state  where  the  dominant  interest  of  the 
worker  lies.  He  wishes  to  have  a  comfortable  home,  and  a 
family;  and  to  obtain  security  against  sickness,  unemployment, 
and  want  in  old  age.  In  a  sense,  no  doubt,  these  aims  are  uni- 
versal among  men ;  but  those  to  whom  "fortune"  has  made  them 
easy  of  attainment  often  find  their  interests  in  other  things.  It 

1  Bernard  Muscio.  By  Permission,  from  Lectures  on  Industrial  Psy- 
chology, p.  265-71.  Published  by  E,  P.  Dtttton  and  Company.  New 
York.  1920. 


132  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

is  because  the  worker  feels  that  these  common  human  goods  are 
only  just  within  his  reach  that  his  whole  attention  is  turned  to 
attempts  to  secure  them. 

It  thus  conies  about  that  the  labourer  is  initially  indifferent 
to  the  whole  efficiency  movement.  What  will  it  do  for  him? 
Will  it  secure  for  him  the  things  that  he  most  desires?  Will  it 
banish  from  his  life  the  fear  of  the  fall  of  the  Damoclean  sword 
of  sickness  and  unemployment?  Will  it  assure  him  of  safety 
when  he  is  old?  If  it  will  do  these  things,  he  will  be  interested 
in  efficiency,  and  cooperate  in  any  attempt  to  make  it  universal. 
If  it  will  do  none  of  these  things,  then  what  is  efficiency  to  him? 
As  it  does  not  seem  to  help  him  to  secure  what  he  wants,  the 
worker  finds  no  interest  in  the  efficiency  movement. 

And  there  the  matter  might  rest  but  for  the  fact  that  effi- 
ciency is  soon  brought  into  very  close  contact  with  the  worker. 
What  he  then  gradually  comes  to  feel  is  that  it  will  not  do  to 
treat  this  thing  with  indifference,  since  it  seems,  so  far  from 
aiding  him  to  gain  security,  to  be  removing  from  him  such 
means  of  security  as  he  possesses.  Scientific  management  thus 
comes  to  excite  both  his  anger  and  his  fear. 

There  are  here  two  chief  facts  to  be  noted. 

The  first  is  that  scientific  management  in  practice  has  often 
been  positively  painful  to  the  worker.  This  does  not  condemn 
the  system  in  its  essentials;  but  it  explains  much  of  labour's 
hostility  toward  it.  Labour  has  known  scientific  management 
as  a  system  under  which  it  was  often  necessary  to  speed  up; 
and  the  "driven"  feeling  in  such  circumstances  is  painful,  and 
at  a  certain  stage  becomes  intolerable.  Anger  is  excited  against 
the  thing  that  causes  the  rush ;  and  as  the  most  obvious  features 
of  the  new  system  were  usually  the  stop  watch  and  the  premium, 
hostility  was  shewn  to  these. 

Even  where  speeding  up  did  not  occur,  conditions  of  work 
were  often  rendered  unpleasant  because  of  the  insistence  upon 
"task"  work.  This  question  is  a  highly  difficult  one.  It  would 
seem  that  any  satisfactory  organization  of  society  demands  it. 
If  we  are  to  depend  upon  one  another,  we  must  know  just  when 
we  can  be  certain  to  get  this  or  that  commodity.  The  bread 
carter  must  come  at  his  usual  hour,  or  we  are  annoyed;  yet 
when  the  bread  carter  regularly  reaches  the  various  points  in 
his  rounds  at  specified  times,  he  is  essentially  on  "task"  work. 
So  is  the  newspaper  editor  who  must  have  his  leader  ready  by 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  133 

twelve  o'clock;  the  lecturer  who  must  have  his  lecture  prepared 
by  a  certain  hour;  the  student  who  must  know  his  subject  by 
December. 

In  the  workshop,  "task"  work  is  the  condition  of  there  being 
no  unnecessary  delays.  If  one  workman  wants  a  piece  of 
mechanism  by  ten  in  the  morning,  some  other  workman  must 
have  that  piece  of  mechanism  ready  for  him  at  that  time.  It 
might  be  possible  to  attain  the  required  end  by  having  always 
ready  several  pieces  of  each  kind  of  mechanism ;  but  even  so, 
it  is  probably  necessary  to  know  approximately  when  any  work- 
man will  finish  his  job.  Practically,  this  means  that  the  time 
allowed  for  a  job  becomes  fixed. 

Now,  it  is  definitely  unpleasant  to  have  to  work  continually 
with  one  eye  on  the  hands  of  the  clock.  This  is  so  even  when 
the  time  allowed  for  the  work  is  reasonable.  Men  of  nervous 
temperament, — and  we  should  not  forget  that  modern  machinery 
'with  its  speed  and  noise  has  a  considerable  effect  upon  the  sensi- 
tive nervous  system, — are  sometimes  almost  incapacitated  by  the 
consciousness  that  their  work  must  be  ready  at  a  given  time. 
When  the  times  set  for  work  are  too  short,  however,  the  results 
upon  workmen  may  be  serious;  but  even  supposing  that  they 
have  always  been  fairly  reasonable  in  scientific  management  in- 
stitutions, I  think  we  can  trace  some  hostility  of  labour  to  the 
system  to  the  mere  fact  that  they  have  been  set,  and  to  the 
effects  of  this  on  the  experiences  of  workmen. 

The  second  fact  is  that  the  practice  of  scientific  management 
has  led  to  the  workmen  experiencing  a  sense  of  loss  of  power 
or  insecurity.  This  is  perhaps  the  chief  point  to  be  noted,  for 
it  has  excited  fear,  and  hence  hostility.  This  loss  of  power  is 
due  to  the  fact  that,  under  the  new  system,  the  individual  has 
always  faced  the  employer  as  a  unit.  His  bargaining  capacity 
has  depended  entirely  upon  what  he  happened  to  have  in  him- 
self. If  he  were  the  man  the  employer  wanted,  well  and  good; 
he  received  good  wages  and  his  ego  expanded  itself;  but  if,  for 
any  reason,  the  employer  presently  found  him  unnecessary,  then 
he  must  go  at  a  moment's  notice,  and  try  individually  to  bargain 
with  some  other  employer.  In  all  this  it  is  quite  true,  as  Mr. 
Frey  says,  that  the  worker  is  at  the  mercy  of  an  individual  em- 
ployer's conception  of  what  is  fair  and  just.  If  it  ever  seemed 
to  a  particular  worker  that  he  had  been  treated  unfairly,  he 
could  not  lay  the  matter  before  his  union,  and  thus  get  redress 


134  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

if  injustice  had  been  done.  The  employer  insisted  on  dealing 
with  the  men  separately.  What  would  have  happened,  indeed, 
had  a  bicycle-ball  inspector's  union  demanded  that  a  certain  girl 
should  not  be  dismissed,  quick  reaction-time  or  not?  Surely  the 
scientific  manager's  calculations  would  have  gone  all  awry! 

But,  you  say,  why  did  not  the  men  stick  together?  Why  did 
they  consent  to  be  treated  separately?  The  answer  is  simple: 
because  of  the  inducement  held  out  in  the  form  of  increased  wages. 
Labour,  in  fact,  has  come  to  feel  that  the  increase  in  wages 
was  offered  to  destroy  the  protective  rules  of  unionism.  This 
is  not  correct  in  fact;  but  it  is  correct  in  the  result.  It  has  been 
found  that  the  spirit  of  solidarity  among  the  men  in  scientific 
management  workshops  was  always  weak,  if  not  dead.  The  new 
system  emphasised  the  individualistic  qualities  of  the  men.  This 
meant  that  if  there  were  a  genuine  grievance,  at  any  time,  on 
the  part  of  some  operatives  in  a  workshop,  their  fellow  workers 
were  disinclined  to  support  them,  because  of  the  fear  that  by 
so  doing  they  would  possibly  lose  favour  with  the  management. 
Since  the  solidarity  of  labour  has  been  its  strength,  a  system 
that  weakens  labour  solidarity  will  naturally  be  regarded,  with 
hostility  by  discerning  workmen.  Mr  Taylor  claimed  that  no 
strike  had  ever  occurred  in  a  scientific  management  institution. 
The  Hoxie  commission  discovered  that  this  was  not  entirely 
exact,  although  there  did  seem  to  be  relatively  few  strikes  under 
the  system.  Labour  explains  this  by  supposing  that  the  system 
interferes  with  labour  solidarity. 

Fear,  then,  excited  by  a  sense  of  lost  power,  and  by  the  antic- 
ipation of  a  still  greater  loss  of  power  in  the  future,  seems  to 
me  the  chief  psychical  management.  It  is  because  this  fear 
never  dies  that  labour's  list  of  charges  against  the  new  system 
is  never  ended. 

Is  it  impossible  to  remove  the  cause  of  this  fear? 


VII.    THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  PROBLEM 
UNDER  SELF-ASSERTIVE  MANAGEMENT 

THE  PRIMARY  PRINCIPLES  OF  SELF-ASSERT- 
IVE MANAGEMENT  * 

As  stated  and  repeated  publicly,  we  do  not  combat,  though 
we  do  not  contract  or  deal  with,  labor  unions  as  such.  Personally, 
I  believe  they  may  have  been  justified  in  the  long  past,  for  I 
think  the  workmen  were  not  always  treated  justly;  that  because 
of  their  lack  of  experience  or  otherwise  they  were  unable  to 
protect  themselves;  and  therefore  needed  the  assistance  of  out- 
siders in  order  to  secure  their  rights. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  conditions  of  employment 
in  the  long  past,  and  whatever  may  have  been  the  results  of 
unionism,  concerning  which  there  is  at  least  much  uncertainty, 
there  is  at  present,  in  the  opinion  of  the  large  majority  of  both 
employers  and  employees,  no  necessity  for  labor  unions ;  and 
that  no  benefit  or  advantage  through  them  will  accrue  to  any 
one  except  the  union  labor  leaders. 

If  a  workman  desires  to  join  a  labor  union  he  is,  of  course, 
at  liberty  to  do  so,  and  in  that  case  he  should  not  be  discrim- 
inated against  by  any  "open  shop"  so  long  as  he  respects  the 
rights  of  his  employer  and  his  co-employees  and  in  every  way 
conforms  to  the  laws  of  the  land.  The  "open  shop,"  as  heretofore 
publicly  defined,  is  what  we  believe  in  and  stand  for. 
^  The  workman,  if  he  belongs  to  a  labor  union,  becomes  the 
industrial  slave  of  the  union.  He  has  no  power  of  initiative 

1  Judge  E.  H.  Gary,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation.  Report  at  Annual  Meeting  of  Stockholders,  as 
reprinted  in  the  New  York  Times,  April  18,  1921. 


136  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

or  opportunity  to  apply  his  natural  mental  and  physical  capacity.^ 
If  our  own  shops  should  become  thoroughly  unionized  and  all 
others  likewise  should  recognize  the  unions,  and  the  steel  industry 
should  become  entirely  organized,  as  the  leaders  have  openly 
attempted,  then  the  management  would  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
unions. 

The  natural  and  certain  effects  of  labor  unionism  are  expressed 
by  three  words :  Inefficiency,  high  costs.  And  be  it  remembered 
that  in  the  end  the  general  public,  which  is  more  interested  in 
the  selling  prices  of  all  products,  must  pay  for  extortionate, 
unnecessary  and  unreasonable  costs  of  production.  It  is  pri- 
marily, fundamentally  and  finally  interested  in  the  existence  and 
conduct  of  labor  unions. 

The  end  sought  by  labor  union  leaders  that,  at  least  to  which 
their  efforts  tend,  means  disaster  and  destruction. 

It  is  noticeable  that  often  times  they  seek  to  control  politics, 
and  openly,  as  a  body,  advocate  the  election  or  defeat  of  even 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  They  oppose  or  favor 
legislation  of  divers  kinds.  They  would  regulate  police  depart- 
ments. They  would,  if  possible,  fill  all  official  positions  and 
control  the  existence,  repeal  or  change  of  laws.  Worse  than 
everything  else,  they  would  dominate  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  our  citadel  of  defense  to  person  and  property — 
to  civilization  itself.  Many  of  them  criticise  and  defy  the  final 
decisions  of  the  courts.  Very  little  has  been  written  or  spoken 
concerning  this  attitude,  although  it  strikes  at  the  very  founda- 
tion of  our  great  Republic. 

In  connection  with  collective  bargaining,   Judge  Gary  said : 

From  our  inquiry  and  study  we  do  not  believe  any  plan  for 
collective  bargaining  has  been  put  in  practice  which  is  better 
than  our  own,  or  has  been  of  real  benefit  to  the  employee  or 
employer.  On  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  us  that  experience,  up 
to  date,  shows  that  both  have  been  disadvantaged ;  that  there 
has  been  less  efficiency  and  higher  cost,  and  that  therefore  the 
great  consuming  public  has  been  injured. 

However,  it  is  proper  to  say  that  if  a  plan,  better  than  ours, 
is  developed  and  proven  to  be  of  real  benefit  to  the  employees 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  137 

and,  at  the  same  time  reasonable,  practicable  and  fair  to  them, 
we  will  not  be  slow  to  adopt  it. 


A  QUESTIONING  OF  THESE  PRINCIPLES1 

There  can  be  few  leaders  in  industry  who  have  a  wider 
experience  with  labor  than  Judge  Gary,  or  whose  general  conduct 
toward  it  has  been  more  honorable,  but  if  one  may  judge  of 
his  statement  yesterday  of  the  principles  and  policies  of  the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation,  his  sense  of  the  past  of  labor 
and  his  vision  of  its  future  are  not  quite  adequate.  .  .  That  "in 
the  long  past"  industrial  laborers  "were  not  always  treated 
justly"  is  an  extreme  understatement.  In  comparison  with  the 
lives  of  mill  operatives  in  the  early  nineteenth  century  negro 
slavery  as  practised  in  our  South  had  aspects  of  marked 
humanity.  This  is  not  merely  the  verdict  of  philanthropists  and 
social  reformers.  Scientists  whose  prime  interest  is  in  quite 
another  field  attribute  to  the  early  decades  of  the  factory  system 
a  widespread  weakening  and  debasement  of  the  English  national 
physique.  Toward  the  bettering  of  such  conditions  philanthropy 
and  common  sense  unaided  might  have  accomplished  something; 
but  the  decisive  factor  was  the  organization  of  unions  and 
repeated  strikes.  Only  by  bringing  the  iniquities  of  the  indus- 
trial system  to  the  public  consciousness  vividly  and  dramatically 
was  it  possible  to  break  down  the  might  of  vested  interests  and 
laissez-faire  individualism.  .  . 

When  we  can  frame  clear  and  practicable  laws  to  govern 
the  labor  situation  the  crucial  struggle  will  be  past.  Meantime, 
the  unions  are  the  best  available  means  for  preventing  a  relapse 
into  the  old  slough  of  laissez-faire.  .  . 

Judge  Gary  presents  eloquently  the  Steel  Corporation's 
policy  of  generosity  in  the  matter  of  wages,  of  enlightenment  in 
the  matter  of  education  and  general  welfare.  His  policy  is 
abundantly  humane.  But  would  it  have  been  quite  what  it  is  if 
there  had  been  no  pressure  from  without  of  organized  labor? 

1  Editorial.    New  York  Times.    April   19,   1921.  p.   16. 


138  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

A  PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  BY  PRESIDENT 

WILSON'S     SECOND     INDUSTRIAL 

CONFERENCE l 

There  is,  however,  a  feature  of  the  present  industrial  unrest 
which  differentiates  it  from  that  commonly  existing  before  the 
war'.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  unrest  today  is  characterized 
more  than  ever  before  by  purposes  and  desires  which  go  beyond 
the  mere  demand  for  higher  wages  and  shorter  hours.  Aspira- 
tions inherent  in  this  form  of  restlessness  are  to  a  greater  extent 
psychological  and  intangible.  They  are  not  for  that  reason  any 
less  significant.  They  reveal  a  desire  on  the  part  of  workers 
to  exert  a  larger  and  more  organic  influence  upon  the  processes 
of  industrial  life.  This  impulse  is  not  to  be  discouraged  but 
made  helpful  and  cooperative.  With  comprehending  and  sym- 
pathetic appreciation,  it  can  be  converted  into  a  force  working 
for  a  better  spirit  and  understanding  between  capital  and  labor, 
and  for  more  effective  cooperation.  .  . 

The  guiding  thought  of  the  conference  has  been  that  the 
right  relationship  between  employer  and  employee  can  be  best 
promoted  by  the  deliberate  organization  of  that  relationship. 
That  organization  should  be  within  the  plant  itself.  Its  object 
should  be  to  organize  unity  of  interest  and  thus  diminish  the 
area  of  conflict,  and  supply  by  organized  cooperation  between 
employers  and  employees  the  advantages  of  that  human  relation- 
ship that  existed  between  them  when  industries  were  smaller. 
Such  organization  should  provide  for  the  joint  action  of  man- 
agers and  employees  in  dealing  with  their  common  interests. 
It  should  emphasize  the  responsibility  of  managers  to  know 
men  at  least  as  intimately  as  they  know  materials,  and  the 
right  and  duty  of  employees  to  have  a  knowledge  of  the  industry, 
its  processes  and  policies.  Employees  need  to  understand  their 

1  National  Industrial  conference,  called  by  the  President  March  6,   1920. 


William  B.  Wilson, 
Chairman 
Herbert  C.  Hoover, 
Vice-chairman 

Martin  H.  Glynn 
Thomas  Y.  Gregory 
Richard   Hooker 

Stanley  King 
Samuel  W.  McCall 
Henry   M.    Robinson 
Julius  Rosenwald 
George  T.  Slade 
Oscar  S.  Straus 
Henry  C.  Stuart 

Wm.  O.  Thompson 
Frank  W.  Taussig 
Henry  J.  Waters 
Geo.  W.  Wickersham 
Owen  D.  Young 
W.  E.   Hotchkiss 
Henry  R.  Seager 

BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  139 

relation  to  the  joint  endeavor  so  that  they  may  once  more  have 
a  creative  interest  in  their  work.  .  .  The  Conference  finds  that 
joint  organization  of  management  and  employees  where  under- 
taken with  sincerity  and  good-will  has  a  record  of  success.  .  . 

Employees  need  an  established  channel  of  expression  and 
an  opportunity  for  responsible  consultation  on  matters  which 
affect  them  in  their  relations  with  their  employers  and  their 
work.  There  must  be  diffused  among  them  a  better  knowledge 
of  the  industry  as  a  whole  and  of  their  relation  to  its  success. 

The  union  has  had  its  greatest  success  in  dealing  with  basic 
working  conditions,  and  with  the  general  level  of  wages  in  or- 
ganized and  partly  organized  industries  and  crafts.  It  has  also 
indirectly  exerted  an  influence  on  standards  in  unorganized 
trades.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  in  the  future  this 
influence  will  not  continue. 

Local  problems,  however,  fall  naturally  within  the  province 
of  shop  committees.  No  organization,  covering  the  whole  trade 
and  unfamiliar  with  special  local  conditions  and  the  questions 
that  come  up  from  day  to  day,  is  by  itself  in  a  position  to  deal 
with  these  questions  adequately,  or  to  enlist  the  cooperation  of 
employer  and  employee  in  methods  to  improve  production  and 
to  reduce  strain.  Except  for  trades  in  which  the  union  itself 
has  operated  under  a  system  of  employee  representation,  as  it 
does  in  shipbuilding  and  in  the  manufacture  of  clothing  and  in 
other  trades,  these  internal  factors  are  likely  either  to  be 
neglected  or  to  be  dealt  with  in  a  way  which  does  not  make  for 
satisfactory  cooperation.  .  . 

The  development  and  maintenance  of  right  relations  between 
employer  and  employee  require  more  than  mere  organization. 
Intelligent  and  wise  administration  is  needed  for  all  those  prob- 
lems of  production  that  directly  touch  the  employee.  Condi- 
tions affecting  human  beings  in  industry  were,  during  the  last 
generation,  largely  in  charge  of  men  whose  special  training  had 
been  devoted  to  the  mechanical  side  of  production.  Much  study 
was  given  to  the  machinery  and  processes  upon  which  men 
worked.  But  the  factors  that  contribute  to  the  broader  human 
development  and  satisfaction  of  the  employee  and  that  lead  to 
increased  productivity  were  too  nearly  neglected.  .  .  The  right 
concept  of  human  relations  in  industry,  which  should  be  the 
primary  impulse  of  management,  is  of  full  value  only  when  it 


140  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

permeates  the  entire  administrative  force.  Far-sighted  execu- 
tives testify  to  the  advantage  gained  from  careful  and  pains- 
taking efforts  to  encourage  and  educate  their  foremen  in  the 
proper  attitude  toward  employees.  .  . 

The  Conference  is  in  favor  of  the  policy  of  collective  bar- 
gaining. It  sees  in  a  frank  acceptance  of  this  principle  the  most 
helpful  approach  to  industrial  peace.  It  believes  that  the  great 
body  of  the  employers  of  the  country  accept  this  principle.  The 
difference  of  opinion  appears  in  regard  to  the  method  of  repre- 
sentation. .  .  The  Conference  believes  that  the  difficulties  can 
be  overcome  and  the  advantages  of  collective  bargaining  secured 
if  employers  and  employees  will  honestly  attempt  to  substitute 
for  an  unyielding  contentious  attitude,  a  spirit  of  cooperation 
with  reference  to  those  aspects  of  the  employment  relation 
where  their  interests  are  not  really  opposed  but  mutual. 


IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    CONTRIBUTION     OF 

WORKERS'  INTELLIGENCE  TO 

MANAGEMENT  x 

The  congestion  of  population  is  producing  subnormal  condi- 
tions of  life.  The  vast  repetitive  operations  are  dulling  the  hu- 
man mind.  The  intermittency  of  employment  due  to  the  bad  co- 
ordination of  industry,  the  great  waVes  of  unemployment  in  the 
ebb  and  flow  of  economic  tides,  the  everpresent  industrial  con- 
flicts by  strike  and  lockout,  produce  infinite  wastes  and  great 
suffering.  Our  business  enterprises  have  become  so  large  and 
complex  that  the  old,  pleasant  relationship  between  employer 
and  employee  has,  to  a  great  extent,  disappeared.  The  aggrega- 
tion of-  great  wealth  with  its  power  for  economic  domination 
presents  social  and  economic  ills  which  we  are  constantly  strug- 
gling to  remedy.  .  . 

We  must  take  account  of  the  tendencies  of  our  present  re- 
petitive industries  to  eliminate  the  creative  instinct  in  their 
workers,  to  narrow  their  field  of  craftsmanship,  to  discard  en- 
tirely the  contribution  to  industry  that  could  be  had  from  their 
minds.  Indeed,  if  we  are  to  secure  the  development  of  our 
people  we  cannot  permit  the  dulling  of  these  sensibilities.  .  . 

1  Herbert  C.  Hoover.  Address  before  the  Federation  of  Engineering 
Societies,  Washington,  D.C.  November  20,  1920. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  141 

If  we  are  to  secure  increased  production  and  an  increased 
standard  of  living,  we  must  keep  awake  interest  in  creation  in 
craftsmanship  and  contribution  of  the  worker's  intelligence  to 
management. 


THE  RELATIVE  EFFICIENCY  OF  THE  DEMO- 
CRATIC METHOD  * 

The  great  reason  why  an  industry  fascinates  the  employer 
but  bores  the  employee  is,  in  my  opinion,  that  human  psychologic 
laws  are  neglected. 

I  hope  that  psychologists  may,  some  day,  in  cooperation  with 
economists,  help  to  a  truer  understanding  of  the  nature  of  hu- 
man freedom.  What  we  liberty  lovers  are  really  groping  for 
is,  apparently,  not  to  do  as  we  think  we  please  but  to  do  what 
will  actually  please  us  after  it  is  done;  that  is,  to  satisfy  fairly 
well  all  of  the  great  fundamental  human  instincts,  of  which  there 
are  many  besides  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  or  of  making 
a  living.  The  workman  not  only  longs  for  more  pay,  but  he 
hungers  and  thirsts  for  other  things  which  he  cannot  formulate, 
because  so  largely  unconscious. 

The  problem  of  making  manual  workers  contented,  or  as  con- 
tented as  the  rest  of  us,  or  as  contented  as  they  can  be,  is  not, 
therefore,  a  problem  simply  of  the  distribution  of  wealth.  It  is 
one  of  introducing,  or  re-introducing,  certain  fundamental  mo- 
tives into  industry.  Just  as  the  large  capitalist  does  not  usually 
accumulate  for  his  children  but  for  the  love  of  accumulating, 
and  just  as  inventors  (as  Professor  Taussig  has  shown)  do 
not  usually  invent  merely,  or  even  chiefly,  for  money  but  for 
the  love  of  inventing,  so  the  workman  can  be  motivated  also  by 
quite  different  motives  from  the  ordinary  pay-envelope  motive. 
I  refer  to  the  creative  and  other  impulses  emphasized  at  this 
session  by  Mr.  Robert  B.  Wolf  and  others,  and  by  Miss  Marot 
and  Ordway  Tead  in  their  books,  as  well  as  a  year  ago  in  our 
Philadelphia  meeting  by  the  late  Professor  Carleton  Parker 
(whose  important  pioneer  work  will,  I  hope,  never  be  for- 
gotten). 

The  war  affords  us  a  great  object  lesson  here.    Men  previously 

1  Irving  Fisher.  Address  by  President  of  American  Economic  Asso- 
ciation. American  Economic  Review,  Supplement.  Vol.  9.  p.  17-19. 


142  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

apathetic  in  the  shop,  under  the  money  motive,  have  exhibited 
a  wonderful  eagerness  to  fight  for  their  country  with  no  wages 
to  speak  of  and  with  no  money  bonus  whatever.  Again,  when 
the  armistice  was  signed,  this  wonderful  "morale"  shrank 
appreciably  overnight.  Still  again,  we  find  that  many  of  the 
soldiers  who  return  to  work  after  the  excitements  of  military 
life  are  actually  spoiled  as  workmen.  We  must  find  ways  of 
putting  real  "pep"  into  the  worker — for  his  sake  as  well  as 
others.  .  . 

We  economists  ought  to  be  able  to  play  an  important  part, 
in  cooperation  with  psychologists,  employers,  and  employees,  by 
studying  this  new  movement,  distilling  out  the  essential  truths 
it  represents,  and  contributing  constructive  suggestions  of  our 
own.  The  psychologists  and  the  religious  workers  helped  vastly 
in  creating  our  soldiers'  morale.  Cannot  the  morale  needed  in 
industry  be  secured  with  equal  success?  If  we  can  and  do 
secure  it,  it  will  be  by  making  industry  really  democratic.  And 
if  we  do  secure  it,  the  productivity  of  industry  will  be  greatly 
increased  because  those  who  have  its  success  at  heart  and  put 
their  own  interest  and  initiative  into  that  success  will  include 
the  millions  of  workers  and  not  merely  the  thousands  of 
employers. 

Here  again  the  war  teaches  us  a  great  lesson.  The  miraculous 
accomplishments  of  the  United  States  were  due  not  to  a  central- 
ized organizing  genius,  such  as  created  German  military  power 
in  forty  years,  but  to  a  decentralized  cooperation  whereby  each 
citizen,  of  his  own  initiative,  tried  to  do  his  "bit."  Not  only 
was  the  war  a  triumph  of  democracy  over  autocracy  but  it 
demonstrated  the  efficiency  of  the  democratic  method,  that  is, 
the  method  which  relies  on  enlisting  the  active  initiative,  the 
enthusiastic  interest  and  will  to  help,  of  the  people.  The  Prus- 
sian method  has  failed  and  the  Prussian  method  in  American 
industry  has  failed  and  always  will. 


THE    INSTINCTIVE    FORCE    BEHIND    THE 
STRUGGLE  FOR  CONTROL 1 

The  one  thing  that  a  patch-work  of  palliatives  and  concessions 
does  not  touch  is  the  one  thing  that  lies  at  the  heart  of  the 

1  Glenn  Frank.     The  Politics  of  Industry,    p.   103,   109,   in.     The  Cen- 
tury Company.  New  York.   1919- 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  143 

modern  labor  problem  and  gives  to  the  modern  labor  movement 
its  sustained  and  vibrant  purpose,  and  that  is  the  status  of  the 
worker  in  industry.  .  . 

And  the  instincts  of  self-defense  and  self-interest,  rather 
than  conscious  statesmanlike  administration,  have  dictated  and 
devised  the  policies  and  instruments  that  both  capital  and  labor, 
with  certain  heartening  exceptions,  today  employ  in  dealing 
with  the  issues  of  industrial  relations.  .  . 

Now,  one  thing  lies  coiled  at  the  heart  of  everything  I  have 
pointed  out,  and  that  is  that  in  the  transfer  from  hand  production 
or  small  scale  industry  to  machine  production  or  large  scale 
industry  the  worker  lost  control  of  the  instruments  of  production, 
lost  control  of  the  raw  materials  for  production,  lost  control 
of  the  conditions  under  which  production  is  carried  on,  lost 
control  of  the  profits  arising  from  production.  And  the  history 
of  the  labor  movement,  from  the  time  James  Watt,  in  1769, 
harnessed  the  expansive  power  of  steam  to  human  use  and  made 
possible  machine  production  down  to  the  present  time,  has  been 
the  story  of  labor's  struggle  to  regain  the  fruits  if  not  the 
facts  of  that  lost  control.  To  the  cynical  and  the  superficial 
the  labor  movement  is  a  purely  selfish  struggle  between  a  group 
called  labor,  trying  to  keep  wages  up,  and  a  group  called  capital, 
trying  to  keep  wages  down;  but  it  is  essentially  a  competition 
for  control,  with  a  rich  variety  of  meanings  attached  to  that 
word.  Specific  demands,  specific  strikes  for  shorter  hours  and 
higher  wages,  aside  from  their  immediate  purpose,  are  part  of 
this  larger  movement  for  a  restoration  of  control,  even  in  those 
instances  where  the  leaders  of  such  strikes  are  blind  to  the 
relation  their  immediate  action  bears  to  the  larger  movement. 

The  present  system  of  regulating  the  relations  between  the 
parties  to  industry  in  the  atmosphere  of  continuous  class  contest, 
latent  or  in  action,  from  the  public's  point  of  view  falls  far 
short  of  the  desirable.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  intelligent 
self-interest  of  both  capital  and  labor  it  is  a  costly  and  inadequate 
method  of  progress.  It  is  important  to  remember,  however, 
that  this  system  was  never  planned  as  a  desirable  method  of 
progress  either  by  capitalists  or  labor  leaders;  it  is  the  product 
of  an  instinctive  evolution  under  the  spur  of  self-defense  and 
immediate  self-interest 


144  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

THE  HEALTHY  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  LOVE 
OF  POWER l 

Industrial  unrest  is  bound  to  continue  just  as  long  as  the 
present  state  of  mind  and  feeling  of  workers  is  generated  by 
growing  disparity  between  their  participation  in  politics  and 
their  exclusion  from  industrial  direction.  Modern  industry 
more  and  more  stifles  the  deep  creative  impulses  of  the  workers 
at  the  same  time  that  it  emphasizes  how  illusory  is  their 
political  power  and  how  unrelated  to  economic  control.  They 
listen  to  Mr.  Bryan's  apostrophe,  "Behold!  a  Republic  in  which 
every  man  is  a  sovereign,  yet  no  one  cares  to  wear  a  crown," 
only  to  reflect  that  as  to  the  essential  circumstances  of  their 
lives  they  are  but  the  instruments  of  needlessly  blind  chance 
under  the  direction  of  the  heads  of  industry.  It  is  an  old  story, 
but  at  this  time  we  all  of  us  need  "education  in  the  obvious 
more  than  investigation  of  the  obscure."  The  last  authoritative 
inquiry  into  industrial  relations  made  in  this  country,  with  wide 
opportunities  for  observation  and  under  the  most  favoring 
impulses  of  war,  was  thus  reported  to  the  President: 

"Broadly  speaking,  American  industry  lacks  a  healthy  basis 
of  relationship  between  management  and  men.  At  bottom  this 
is  due  to  the  insistence  of  employers  upon  individual  dealings 
with  their  men.  Direct  dealings  with  employees'  organizations 
is  still  the  minority  rule  in  the  United  States.  In  the  majority 
of  instances  there  is  no  joint  dealing,  and  in  too  many  instances 
employers  are  in  active  opposition  to  labor  organizations.  This 
failure  to  equalize  the  parties  in  adjustments  of  inevitable  indus- 
trial contests  is  the  central  cause  of  our  difficulties.  There  is  a 
commendable  spirit  throughout  the  country  to  correct  specific 
evils.  The  leaders  in  industry  must  go  further,  they  must  help 
to  correct  the  state  of  mind  on  the  part  of  labor;  they  must 
aim  for  the  release  of  normal  feelings  by  enabling  labor  to  take 
its  place  as  a  cooperator  in  the  industrial  enterprise.  In  a  word, 
a  conscious  attempt  must  be  made  to  generate  a  new  spirit  in 
industry. 

Here  is  the  watershed  of  all  the  streams  of  discontent — all 
the  streams  that  have  rush  and  sweep  and  power  and  that  will 
not  be  denied.  And  the  vague  gropings  of  workers  for  a 

1  Felix   Frankfurter.     Yale  Review.    Vol.   9.    p.   «9-33- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  145 

dignified  participation  in  industry,  for  an  adequate  utilization 
of  their  creative  faculties,  have,  of  course,  been  intensified  by 
the  war.  Generous  ideas  and  glowing  watchwords  are  highest- 
power  explosives.  Statesmen  cannot  regiment  a  nation  behind 
the  appeal  to  "democracy,  liberty  and  justice"  without  compelling 
men  and  women  to  seek  significance  for  these  glorious  concepts 
in  their  daily  lives.  The  impulses  aroused  by  a  war  waged  to 
bring  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  cannot  be  coerced  to  be 
content  to  have  the  unloveliness  and  the  misery  and  the  repres- 
sion of  the  old  earth  left  wholly  unchanged. 

This  familiar  analysis  suggests  its  own  familiar  remedies. 

Public  opinion  must  exert  its  dormant  dominance  by  a  frank 
recognition  that  the  unrest  is  not  "un-American,"  is  not  destruc- 
tive, should  not  be  hunted  like  a  wild  beast  or  a  pickpocket. 
Nor  yet  must  it  be  looked  upon  as  "belly  philosophy."  Of 
course,  there  are  demands  for  more  wages  and  less  hours,  but 
these  are  really  minor  issues.  Not  until  there  is  a  generous 
acceptance  of  the  spiritual  depths  behind  the  present  unrest  will 
there  be  or  should  there  be  peace  among  us.  Not  until  then  can 
these  depths  attain  secure  and  sensible  direction.  Must  it  be  left 
to  England  first  to  solve  the  problem  of  industrial  liberty  as 
it  was  hers  to  give  to  the  modern  world  political  liberty? 
Signs  are  not  wanting  that  she  will  be  the  pioneer,  driven, 
perhaps  by  the  spur  of  necessity.  Surely,  however,  no  one  has 
stated  the  issue  with  more  penetrating  simplicity  than  the  leading 
Conservative  statesman,  Lord  Robert  Cecil.  He  quotes  the 
following  passage  from  a  speech  by  Mr.  Smillie : 

"The  mine-owners  have  always  told  us,  and  you  tell  us  now, 
if  you  hand  the  mines  back  to  them  for  free  competition 
amongst  each  other,  that  we  have  no  right  to  a  voice  in  the 
working  conditions  of  the  mines — no  voice  on  the  commercial 
side  at  all.  They  say,  'We  invested  our  money  in  those  mines 
and  they  are  ours ;  you  are  merely  our  hands.'  Now  I  say,  'We 
invest  our  lives  in  those  mines,  which  is  of  greater  importance 
than  the  capital  of  the  employer,  and  to  that  extent  have  a  right 
to  say  as  to  what  the  conditions  shall  be,  not  merely  the  working 
conditions,  but  we  are  entitled  to  have  some  information  on 
the  commercial  side  of  the  thing  also.' " 

Lord  Cecil  comments  upon  this  as  follows: 

"I  believe  that  these  sentences  contain  the  essence  of  the 
industrial  problem.  It  is  not  merely,  or  even  chiefly,  a  question 
of  wages  or  hours  of  labor.  These  things  are  important,  but 


146  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

they  are  not  at  the  root  of  the  present  discontent.  If  it  were 
so,  you  would  find  the  gravest  unrest  in  the  worst  paid  occu- 
pations, which  is  notoriously  not  the  case.  I  believe  that  a 
large  part  of  the  more  extreme  section  of  the  labor  world  con- 
sists of  men  who  were  a  few  years  ago  the  backbone  of  working- 
class  conservatism — men  who  have  done  well  in  their  trades  and 
have  the  respect  of  their  fellow  workmen.  .  .  What  these  men 
complain  of  is  not  so  much  that  the  conditions  of  their  work 
are  bad  as  that  they  have  no  say  in  what  these  conditions 
should  be. 

"A  man's  labor  is  a  part  of  himself,  and  not  a  mere  com- 
modity to  be  bought  and  sold  in  the  market.  He  has  a  right 
to  be  consulted  as  to  its  disposal,  and  cannot  give  to  another 
uncontrolled  power  over  it  without  injury  to  his  self-respect. 

"It  will  no  doubt  be  said  that  if  the  employees  are  to  have 
a  share  in  the  management  of  industry  it  will  mean  a  loss  in 
efficiency,  and  since  the  real  cure  for  industrial  difficulties  is 
increase  of  output,  such  a  change  would  be  a  retrograde  meas- 
ure. The  same  argument  has  often  been  applied  in  the  political 
world,  indeed  it  is  the  mainstay  of  the  defense  of  Kaiserism. 
Granted  an  absolute  monarch  of  intelligence  and  probity,  it  is  at 
any  rate  plausible  to  contend  that  this  state  will  be  administered 
more  efficiently  than  it  would  be  by  any  democracy.  Never- 
theless the  world  has  decided  against  autocracy,  and  for  good 
reasons.  In  the  first  place,  history  shows  that  really  good 
despots  are  rare,  and  I  suspect  that  the  same  is  equally  true  of 
captains  of  industry;  and,  in  the  second  place,  the  argument 
leaves  out  of  sight  the  passion  of  mankind  for  liberty.  Over 
and  over  again,  we  have  seen  men  prefer  a  bad  government  for 
which  they  are  responsible,  and  in  which  they  have  a  share  to 
a  good  government  imposed  upon  them  from  above.  And  I  be- 
lieve the  same  is  as  true  in  industry  as  it  is  in  politics.  More- 
over, industrial  efficiency  itself  depends  upon  the  good-will  of 
the  workers.  Without  their  hearty  cooperation  the  most  skilled 
captain  of  industry  is  powerless." 

"Not  until  we  act  on  a  generous  acceptance  of  the  fact  that 
what  is  at  stake  is  a  redistribution  of  power  from  the  auto- 
cratic direction  of  employers  to  the  responsible  participation  of 
all  who  are  involved  in  industry  will  we  get  out  of  the  woods 
of  feud  and  fury.  Responsibility  for  delay  in  this  peaceful  ad- 
justment must  be  made  personal.  The  community  must  make  it- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  147 

self  felt.  When  President  Hadley  years  ago  urged  social  ostra- 
cism for  social  blindness  he  was  'merely  invoking  the  pressure 
of  opinion  of  those  upon  whom  rests  noblesse  oblige.  Other 
great  employers  must  speak  out  and  join  Mr.  H.  P.  Endicott 
when  he  says :  "I  cannot  believe  that  the  so-called  employers' 
group  (of  the  Presidents  Industrial  Conference)  were  fair 
representatives  of  all  American  employers.  I  cannot  believe  that 
these  were  the  employers  throughout  this  country  who  recog- 
nized during  the  war  very  strongly  the  fact  that  the  em- 
ployees were  partners,  and  that  without  these  partners  we  could 
not  possibly  carry  on  war  or  that  without  these  partners  can 
we  possibly  carry  on  peace.  There  were  no  signs  anywhere  that 
pointed  to  such  thoughts  coming  from  the  employers'  group." 
Industrial  leaders  must  dissociate  themselves  from  the  leadership 
of  Chairman  F.  P.  Fish  of  the  National  Industrial  Conference 
Board  who,  however  able  and  admirable  in  other  fields,  is  totally 
incapable  of  making  the  imaginative  adjustment  that  modern  in- 
dustry demands.  Those  strong  and  powerful  in  the  community, 
those  most  privileged  by  the  opportunities  and  the  immunities 
of  life,  must  speak  out  so  that  they  can  be  heard  and  not 
secretly  criticise  Judge  Gary.  As  soon  as  Judge  Gary  hears 
from  his  own  kind  not  pathetic  praise  but  the  truth  of  his 
revolutionary  propaganda,  and  not  until  then,  will  Judge  Gary 
cease  to  play  autocrat  and  find  justification  because  the  Steel 
Trust  is  playing  Lady  Bountiful. 

"We  thus  see  that  we  must  carry  over  into  the  field  of  in- 
dustry the  problems  of  politics.  Government  in  industry,  like 
unto  political  government,  must  be  worked  out  where  power 
and  responsibility  are  shared  by  all  those  who  are  participants 
in  industry  as  well  as  the  dependent  "public."  The  task  is  noth- 
ing less  than  devising  constant  processes  by  which  to  achieve  ah 
orderly  and  fruitful  way  of  life." 


SOME  INSTINCTIVE  REACTIONS  OF  DEFENSE 
BY  LABOR x 

The  truth  is  that  the  outlook  and  ideals  of  this  dominant 
type  of  unionism  are  those  very  largely  of  a  business  organization 

1  Robert  F.  Hoxie.     Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics.     Vol.  31.   ioi'6-T7. 
P-    73-6. 


148  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

Its  successful  leaders  are  essentially  business  men  and  its 
unions  are  organized  primarily  to  do  business  with  employers — 
to  bargain  for  the  sale  of  the  product  which  it  controls.  It 
has  found,  however,  by  long  and  general  experience  that  if  it 
is  to  do  business  with  the  average  employer  or  with  associations 
of  employers  it  must  be  prepared  to  fight.  But  throughout  its 
history  this  fighting  has  been  predominantly  conducted  with  the 
purpose  of  forcing  employers  to  recognize  it  as  a  business  or 
bargaining  entity.  Its  position  and  experience  have  been  very 
much  like  that  of  a  new  and  rising  business  concern  attempting 
to  force  its  way  into  a  field  already  occupied  by  old  established 
organizations  in  control  of  the  market.  Like  the  new  business 
concern  it  has  to  fight  to  obtain  a  foothold.  But  from  this  to  ^ 
argue  that  it  is  organized  for  war  is  a  complete  non  sequitup. —  j> 

A  somewhat  similar  situation  has  existed  in  regard  to  the 
matter  of  output.  Business  unionism  has  recognized,  in  gen- 
eral, the  evils  of  restriction  and  has  been  willing  to  allow  and 
even  encourage  the  introduction  of  new  machinery  and  im- 
proved processes  and  methods,  and  to  sanction  increased  effort 
and  productiveness  on  the  part  of  its  members  up  to  reasonable 
physiological  limits,  provided  it  could  be  guaranteed  that  the 
improved  methods  and  the  increased  exertion  and  output  should 
not  be  made  the  means  of  lessening  the  share  of  the  workers 
in  the  product  or  forcing  upon  them  lower  wage  rates  and  in- 
ferior conditions  of  employment.  But  here  again  it  has  found 
the  average  employer  or  employers'  association  standing  in  the 
way.  It  has  been  taught  by  long  and  bitter  experience  that 
employers  could  and  would  make  use  of  improvements  and  in- 
creased output  by  the  workers  not  only  to  seize  all  the  gains 
but  even  to  reduce  the  actual  rates  and  returns  to  the  workers. 

The  fact  is  that  despite  all  theorizing  to  the  contrary,  the 
wages  of  workmen  under  the  unscientific  conditions  that  have 
prevailed  in  industry  are  not  determined  automatically  by  specific 
output  or  by  supply  and  demand,  but  immediately  by  a  process 
of  bargaining.  The  two  most  important  factors  in  determining 
the  outcome  of  this  bargaining  process  have  been  the  customary 
normal  or  standard  day's  work  and  the  customary  standard  of 
living  of  the  workers  concerned.  These  have  been  the  practical 
standards  of  right,  justice  and  expediency  most  generally  con- 
sidered. In  bargaining  between  employer  and  workman,  as  it 
has  generally  taken  place  in  the  past,  if  the  employer  could  make 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  149 

it  appear  that,  under  the  existing  conditions,  the  workers  were 
not  producing  up  to  the  standard  day's  work,  he  had  a  strong 
case  to  show  that  wages  ought  to  be  lowered  or  that  more  work 
ought  to  be  done  for  the  same  pay,  which  amounts  virtually  to 
lowering  the  wage.  If,  further,  the  employer  could  make  it  ap- 
pear that,  at  the  given  wage  rate,  or  on  the  basis  of  the  standard 
day's  work,  the  workers  could  secure  a  standard  of  living  higher 
than  that  customary  with  them,  he  had  a  strong  case  to  show 
that  the  wage  rate  ought  to  be  lowered,  or,  at  least,  that  it 
should  not  be  increased.  In  a  contest  of  this  kind  the  employer 
has  been  fairly  sure  of  the  support  of  public  opinion,  arbitrators, 
the  police  and  the  courts. 

Now  the  workers  have  been  taught  by  long  experience  that 
the  average  employer  is  constantly  seeking  to  take  advantage  of 
these  facts  to  secure  an  increase  of  the  output  and  at  the  same 
time  to  lessen  the  share  and  the  amount  of  the  product  going 
to  the  workers.  Thus  when  new  machinery  and  methods  are 
introduced,  at  the  old  wage  rates  and  under  the  old  conditions 
of  work,  the  laborers  are  able  to  secure  earnings  more  than 
sufficient  to  maintain  their  customary  standard  of  living,  and 
this  makes  a  basis  for  lowering  of  rates  or  at  least  of  a  refusal 
to  increase  wages  and  improve  the  conditions  of  work.  Where 
competition  is  keen,  he  has  usually  been  able  to  carry  this  off  by 
adding  to  the  arguments  stated  above  that  profits  have  td  rise 
or  that  they  have  positively  declined  as  a  result  of  the  improved 
methods.  Where  competition  has  been  absent,  i.e.,  where  a 
combination  has  controlled  the  goods  market,  the  employer  has 
usually  been  strong  enough  to  carry  his  point  regardless  of  facts 
and  arguments.  Thus  the  new  machinery  and  methods  have 
generally  not  improved  the  wages  and  the  conditions  of  the 
workers  immediately  concerned  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  have 
not  infrequently  lowered  them,  especially  where  these  improve- 
ments have  created  conditions  of  increased  competition  among 
the  workers,  as  they  very  generally  have  done. 

Turning  now  to  the  other  aspect  of  the  matter — increased 
effort  and  productiveness  on  the  part  of  the  workmen  where  no 
improvement  in  methods  has  taken  place — the  experience  of  the 
workers  has  been  that  the  old  line  employer  has  been  constantly 
endeavoring  to  speed  them  up  and  over-reach  them  by  the  cre- 
ation of  "swifts"  and  "bell-horses,"  through  the  introduction  of 
"company  men,"  by  threatening  and  coercing  individuals  whose 


ISO  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

native  resisting  power  was  weak  or  whose  circumstances  were 
precarious,  and  by  offering  secret  premiums  or  bonuses.  When 
through  these  methods  some  man  or  group  of  men  have  been 
induced  to  speed  up,  their  accomplishment  has  been  taken  as 
a  standard  for  all  to  attain.  Thus,  in  the  case  of  day  work,  the 
accomplishment  of  the  strongest  and  swiftest  was  the  goal  set 
for  all,  if  wages  were  not  to  be  lowered,  while  in  the  case  of 
the  piece  work  the  rate  of  wages  tended  to  be  lowered  by  these 
exceptionally  rapid  workers,  because  at  a  given  rate  it  could  be 
shown  that  they  could  make  more  than  was  necessary  to  main- 
tain their  customary  standard  of  living.  Under  these  condi- 
tions the  workers  found  that  increased  efficiency  and  output  by 
the  members  of  their  immediate  group  tended  to  mean  not  a 
corresponding  increase  of  pay,  but  less  wages  for  all,  or  more 
work  for  the  same  pay;  and  the  only  way  they  could  see  to 
prevent  overspeeding  and  the  lowering  of  the  rates  was  to  set 
a  limit  on  what  any  individual  was  allowed  to  do,  in  short  to 
limit  individual  and  group  output  until  the  employer  could  be 
forced  to  guarantee  increased  wages  for  increased  effort  and 
output. 

These  are  the  facts  which,  I  believe,  cannot  be  controverted. 
No  one  recognizes  this  more  clearly  than  Mr.  Taylor  himself, 
whose  denunciation  of  the  blindness  and  unfairness  of  the 
average  employer  on  account  of  them  has  not  been  exceeded  in 
strength  and  bitterness  by  the  labor  leaders,  and  who  declared 
publicly  that  were  he  a  worker  up  against  such  conditions  he 
would  feel  as  they  have  felt  and  do  as  they  have  done  in  the 
matter  of  limitation  of  output. 


LABOR'S    PURPOSES    IN    COLLECTIVE 
BARGAINING  1 

It  is  proper  to  explain  labor's  purposes  as  an  organized  par- 
ticipant in  industry.  It  is  the  contention  of  some  that  labor 
seeks  only  its  own  satisfaction  and  makes  no  contribution  in  re- 
turn. This  is  wholly  untrue. 

Labor  believes  that  the  agreement  between  workers  and  em- 
ployers, negotiated  in  conference,  based  upon  experience  and 

1  Samuel  Gompers.  Union  Labor  and  the  Enlightened  Employer.  In- 
dustrial Management.  April  i,  1921.  p.  236-7. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  151 

operating  to  secure  justice,  is  the  most  important  contract  in  all 
human  relations  today.  It  is  reciprocal  instead  of  one-sided. 
It  gives  the  largest  possible  measure  of  justice  to  the  workers 
and  it  gives  a  guarantee  of  stability  and  cooperation  to  industry. 
Only  when  there  is  an  agreement,  freely  entered  into  by  the 
workers,  writing  into  definite  terms  their  obligations  and  their 
rights,  can  there  be  the  highest  free  contributions  of  human  la- 
bor energy  to  industry.  The  agreement  is  the  channel  through 
which  labor  pours  into  industry  its  greatest  effort,  its  most  in- 
telligent effort,  its  constructive  thought.  But  more  than  that, 
it  is  the  document  through  which  complete  revolution  is  wrought 
in  the  principle  of  conduct  in  industry.  From  the  moment  in 
which  workers  and  employer  negotiate  and  agree  upon  terms, 
hours,  conditions  and  wages,  the  principle  of  autocratic  domina- 
tion gives  way  to  the  principle  of  democratic  operation.  That 
is  the  vital  point  in  the  whole  question  of  labor  relations  and 
it  is  precisely  that  point  that  arbitrary  and  reactionary  employers 
fear  to  pass.  King  John  before  them  struggled  over  the  same 
principle.  King  George  the  First  struggled  over  the  same  prin- 
ciple. The  late  Czar  and  the  ex-Kaiser  did  likewise.  Every 
great  force  that  has  stood  against  this  principle  has,  in  the  great 
hour  of  decision,  been  compelled  to  give  way.  .  . 

The  reason  employers  in  some  instances  put  forth  such  violent 
opposition  to  organized  labor  is  that  it  involves  the  change  from 
autocratic  control  to  democratic  control.  The  basis  of  calcula- 
tion is  changed.  And  if  employers  were  not  in  some  instances 
shortsighted  the  change  would  be  accepted  unanimously  and 
gladly  as  a  benefit  to  industry  and  to  mankind  in  general. 

Only  careful  surveys  by  competent  engineers  could  reveal  the 
staggering  losses  to  industry  caused  by  arbitrary  rule.  There 
have  been  estimates  of  the  colossal  losses  suffered  each  year  by 
the  steel  trust  because  of  its  refusal  to  adopt  enlightened  em- 
ployment policies,  including  negotiating  with  organized  workers, 
but  only  a  detailed  examination  and  the  most  careful  com- 
parison could  reveal  anything  approaching  the  real  loss.  Some 
employers  cannot  believe  that  the  workers  have  motives  unlike 
their  own.  Let  those  employers  find  out  the  production  loss 
caused  each  year  by  autocratic  control  of  industry.  The  nation 
pays  the  bill  for  this  obstinacy  in  a  definite  loss  of  consumable 
commodities. 


152  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

LABOR'S    OBJECTIONS    TO    UNCOOPERATIVE 
MANAGEMENT l 

Industry  in  America  has  not  been  carried  on  as  effectively 
as  it  might  have  been,  one  prominent  reason  being  the  lack  of 
confidence  which  has  existed  on  the  part  of  management  toward 
labor  and  on  the  part  of  labor  toward  management.  Manage- 
ment, at  times,  has  apparently  believed  that  satisfactory  produc- 
tion depended  wholly  upon  rules,  methods  and  systems  worked 
out  and  applied  by  management  alone. 

Labor  has  been  made  to  feel,  on  more  than  one  occasion, 
that  its  sole  function  was  to  obey  orders,  and  frequently  to 
obey  them  blindly,  and,  where  this  condition  has  existed,  it 
has  unquestionably  created  an  attitude  on  the  worker's  part 
where  they  had  but  little  interest  in  production  and  none  of  the 
spirit  of  cooperation  which  is  so  essential. 

For  a  number  of  years  previous  to  the  war,  able  men,  ani- 
mated by  most  worthy  motives,  endeavored  to  devise  methods 
and  systems  which,  if  applied  to  industry,  would  establish  greater 
production.  But  these  systems,  regardless  of  their  individual 
merits,  largely  failed  to  solve  the  problem.  Under  their  oper- 
.  ation  labor,  as  a  whole,  became  more  dissatisfied  and  less  willing 
to  cooperate.  Production  was  something  that  was  forced,  in- 
stead of  something  which  came  as  a  result  of  good-will  and 
a  spirit  of  confidence  and  cooperation. 

The  American  trade-union  movement  believes  in  progress. 
It  is  the  only  hope  for  the  future.  It  recognizes  that  progress 
means  change  and  readjustment,  and  it  has  no  objection  to 
changes,  but  American  labor  may  have  serious  objections  to 
the  method  by  which  changes  are  made. 

Labor  has  objected  in  the  past  and  will  object  in  the  future, 
whenever  it  believes  that  it  is  being  experimented  upon  and 
experimented  with  by  others,  without  having  a  voice  as  to  the 
necessity,  the  value,  or  the  character  of  the  experiments  taking 
place  during  a  period  of  change.  Labor  feels  fully  justified  in 
this  position,  for,  from  the  mass  of  industrial  experiments  in 
which  the  human  factor  plays  a  prominent  part,  we  find  that 
the  majority  have  resulted  in  failure.  It  must  be  recognized 

1  John  P.  Frey.  Labor's  Attitude  Toward  Methods  of  Management. 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  September,  1920.  p.  140-5. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  153 

that  there  is  a  distinct  difference  between  experiments  with 
material  and  experiments  with  human  beings. 

If  labor  has  realized  that  production  was  necessary  to  the 
creation  of  wealth,  and  wealth  was  necessary  if  higher  wages 
and  other  improved  terms  of  employment  were  to  be  secured, 
why  is  it  that  labor  frequently  indicated  a  frank  unwillingness 
to  cooperate  with  management  when  new  methods  or  systems 
of  production  were  applied? 

One  prominent  reason  for  labor's  position  is  not  difficult  to 
discover.  Labor  was  suspicious  of  these  systems;  suspicious  be- 
cause it  had  not  been  consulted,  and  had  had  no  part  in  pre- 
paring them;  suspicious  because  they  were,  unfortunately,  fre- 
quently advertised  as  methods  by  which  skilled  labor  could  be 
supplanted  by  unskilled  labor ;  suspicious  because  it  claimed  that 
scientific  methods  had  been  worked  out  which  enable  manage- 
ment, and  management  solely,  to  determine  what  degree  of 
exertion,  what  amount  of  production  labor  should  produce  with- 
in a  given  time;  suspicious  because  in  practice  these  systems  are 
largely  applied  by  men  having  little,  if  any,  practical  personal 
experience  as  manual  or  skilled  workmen;  suspicious  because 
the  mathematician  and  the  mechanical  engineer  were  held  to  be 
the  only  ones  competent  to  determine  the  methods,  processes  and 
amount  of  energy  which  the  workman  should  put  into  the  day's 
work. 

Facts  are  facts,  and  no  good  can  come  from  sidestepping 
them,  or  glossing  them  over. 

Labor,  before  the  war,  rose  in  opposition  to  the  several  sys- 
tems of  production  which  have  been  loosely  called  "scientific 
management."  As  labor  was  directly  affected,  it  was  interested 
in  time  studies,  in  the  subdivison  of  labor  and  the  basis  of  com- 
putation for  the  payment  of  wages.  For  a  number  of  years 
there  existed  an  active  controversy  between  those  who  advo- 
cated so-called  scientific  management  and  the  trade-unionists. 
As  a  result  of  an  investigation  made  under  the  authority  of  the 
Industrial  Relations  Commission,  it  was  made  evident  that  the 
term  "scientific  management"  applied  to  these  systems,  was  an 
unfortunate  one  because  none  of  them  had  reached  that  stage 
where  the  term  "scientific"  was  appropriate. 

The  internal  evidence,  contained  in  the  investigating  com- 
mission's report,  satisfactorily  disposed  of  the  contention  that 


154  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

time  studies  of  labor  could  be  made  with  scientific  accuracy; 
they  disclosed  that  the  human  element  was  a  factor  which  could 
not  be  reduced  to  scientific  accuracy  by  the  use  of  the  stop- 
watch, or  any  other  methods,  for  men  differ  in  their  mentality, 
their  vitality,  their  nervous  reaction,  the  time  required  to  re- 
cover from  fatigue  as  well  as  in  a  number  of  other  qualities. 

Sometime  after  that  report  on  scientific  management  and 
labor,  above  referred  to,  had  been  published,  one  of  the  pro- 
duction engineers  in  the  scientific  management  group,  in  a  com- 
munication to  the  writer,  said  in  substance:  "I  will  admit  that 
you  have  proved  the  unscientific  character  of  much  that  has  been 
termed  'scientific  management'  and  that  no  one  can  successfully 
claim  today  that  time  studies  of  labor  can  be  made  which  are 
scientifically  accurate.  You  have  killed  those  claims  and  you 
may  kill  others,  but  the  soul  of  efficiency  cannot  be  killed.  Cer- 
tain fundamental  truths  which  were  worked  out  by  efficiency 
engineers  will  live  regardless  of  how  encumbered  they  may  have 
been  by  false  claims,  and  by  the  pretentions  of  those  who  saw 
in  the  new  conceptions  of  production  an  opportunity  of  ex- 
ploitation for  personal  ends." 

An  unprejudiced  examination  of  what  has  been  done  by  the 
efficiency  or  production  engineers  bears  out  the  basic  truth  con- 
tained in  the  statement  that  the  soul  of  efficiency  cannot  be 
killed.  Unquestionably,  there  was  much  in  scientific  manage- 
ment which  was  sound,  for  if  labor  could  be  charged  with  in- 
efficiency at  times,  in  many  instances  management  in  American 
industries  could  be  charged  with  a  much  greater  volume,  as  well 
as  the  burden  of  responsibility.  In  fact,  those  who  have  studied 
the  methods  or  lack  of  methods  of  management  which  existed 
a  number  of  years  ago  are  frequently  surprised  that  it  was  pos- 
sible to  have  kept  the  sheriff  from  the  door,  under  the  cumber- 
some, inadequate  and  unintelligent  system  of  production  which 
existed  in  many  plants. 


LABOR  ATTITUDES  TOWARD  SCIENTIFIC 
MANAGEMENT 1 

An  investigation  of  scientific  management  was  made  for  the 
Federal  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations.    This  investigation 

1  Samuel   Gompers.     American   Federationist.     June  and  August,    1916. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  155 

was  conducted  by  Professor  Robert  F.  Hoxie  of  the  University 
of  Chicago,  with  the  advice  and  assistance  of  Mr.  John  P.  Frey, 
editor  of  the  Moulder's  Journal,  and  Mr.  Robert  G.  Valentine, 
representing  the  employers'  interests.  The  report,  which  was 
signed  by  all  of  these  investigators,  points  out  the  following 
defects  that  were  observed: 

"(a)  Failure  to  carry  into  effect  with  any  degree  of  thor- 
oughness the  general  elements  involved  in  the  system. 

"(b)  Failure  to  adopt  the  full  system  of  'functional  fore- 
manship.' 

"(c)  Lack  of  uniformity  in  the  method  of  selecting  and 
hiring  help. 

"(d)  Failure  to  substantiate  claims  of  scientific  management 
with  reference  to  the  adaptation,  instruction  and  training  of 
workers. 

"(e)  Lack  of  scientific  accuracy,  uniformity  and  justice  in 
time  study  and  task-setting. 

"(f)  Failure  to  substantiate  the  claim  of  having  established 
a  scientific  and  equitable  method  of  determining  wage-rates. 

"(g)  Failure  to  protect  the  workers  from  over-exertion  and 
exhaustion. 

"(h)  Failure  to  substantiate  the  claim  that  scientific  man- 
agement offers  exceptional  opportunities  for  advancement  and 
promotion  on  a  basis  of  individual  merit. 

"(i)  With  reference  to  the  alleged  methods  and  severity  of 
discipline  under  scientific  management  the  'acrimonious  criticism' 
from  trade  unions  does  not  seem  to  be  warranted. 

"(j)  Failure  to  substantiate  the  claim  that  workers  are 
discharged  only  on  just  grounds  and  have  an  effective  appeal  to 
the  highest  managerial  authority. 

"(k)  Lack  of  democracy  under  scientific  management."  .  .  . 

The  wage-earners  know  that  a  truly  scientific  plan  for 
securing  efficiency  must  be  a  comprehensive  plan  that  involves 
all  of  the  processes  of  production,  one  that  does  not  expend 
itself  on  the  application  of  labor  power  by  the  workers,  but 
gives  proportional  consideration  to  an  adjustment  of  the  mate- 
rials and  the  scheme  of  production  over  which  the  employer 
has  control. 

Real  scientific  efficiency  in  production  must  have  regard  for 
the  human  factors  in  production  and  must  find  a  place  in  the 
scheme  for  principles  of  human  welfare.  Science  places  a  high 


156  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

value  upon  human  life,  and  everywhere  makes  the  human  effect 
the  paramount  consideration. 

Scientific  management  as  found  in  most  instances  has  to  do 
only  with  time  and  motion  studies,  ostensibly  to  establish  new 
standards  and  bases  for  wage  compensations.  However,  time 
or  motion  studies  so  far  made  are  all  based  upon  averages  and 
make  no  attempt  scientifically  to  establish  principles  that  could 
be  termed  just  standards  for  compensation. 

Time  and  motion  studies  fail  to  make  any  consideration  for 
human  fatigue.  They  are  only  methods  for  establishing  the 
work  that  can  be  done  under  highest  pressure  in  the  shortest 
period  of  time  without  any  pretense  of  conserving  human 
creative  power.  The  whole  emphasis  is  put  upon  the  quantity  of 
material  output.  Merely  mathematical  maximum  of  production 
is  not  the  desirable  scientific  output.  .  . 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor  has  achieved  a  tremendous 
victory  of  far-reaching  consequence  in  protecting  workers  in 
certain  trades  against  a  pernicious  system  that  threatened  the 
manhood,  the  independence  and  the  initiative  of  the  workers  of 
those  trades.  Particularly  the  workers  in  the  metal  trades 
have  felt  the  impending  danger  of  efforts  to  fasten  upon  them 
systems  of  so-called  "scientific  management."  These  systems 
are  endeavoring  to  establish  a  new  standard  for  paying  wages, 
a  standard  that  would  inevitably  undermine  the  health  and 
mentality  of  workers,  for  it  is  a  standard  that  aims  directly  to 
speed  up  workers  to  the  exhaust  point  and  to  instill  mechanical 
habits  of  work. 

In  order  to  protect  the  lives  and  health  of  workers,  Congress 
incorporated  into  the  Sundry  Civil  bill  and  fortifications  bill  the 
following  proviso : 

"Provided,  That  no  part  of  the  appropriations  made  in  this 
act  shall  be  available  for  the  salary  or  pay  of  any  officer, 
manager,  superintendent,  foreman,  or  other  person  having  charge 
of  the  work  of  any  employee  of  the  United  States  while  making 
or  causing  to  be  made  with  a  stop-watch,  or  other  time-measuring 
device,  a  time  study  of  any  job  of  any  such  employee  between 
the  starting  and  completion  thereof,  or  of  the  movements  of 
any  such  employee  while  engaged  upon  such  works;  nor  shall 
any  part  of  the  appropriations  made  in  this  Act  be  available 
to  pay  any  premium  or  bonus  or  cash  reward  to  any  employee 
in  addition  to  his  regular  wages,  except  for  suggestions  resulting 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  157 

in  improvements  or  economy  in  the  operation  of  any  government 
plant." 

These  bills  were  approved  by  both  houses  of  Congress  and 
have  been  signed  by  the  President.  The  same  proviso  is  included 
in  the  Naval  and  Army  bills.  Thus  the  workers  have  secured 
congressional  approval  for  their  opposition  to  systems  that  have 
sought  to  give  to  a  new  exploiting  scheme  the  sanction  of  science 
and  of  efficient  production. 

Workers  have  proven  by  their  actual  experiences  that  stop- 
watch time-measuring  systems  are  neither  scientific  nor  are  they 
in  furtherance  of  most  effective  production.  The  workers  are 
not  opposed  to  methods  or  devices  that  facilitate  production, 
but  they  are  opposed  to  methods  that  dehumanize  the  workers. 

The  so-called  scientific  efficiency  systems  that  have  been  thus 
far  proposed  are  neither  scientific  nor  efficient.  The  workers 
are  in  favor  of  methods  that  will  enable  them  to  become  more 
effective,  intelligent,  resourceful  participators  in  production. 
Such  methods  must  necessarily  be  educational  in  nature. 

The  labor  movement  declares  that  efforts  to  promote  produc- 
tion in  quality  as  well  as  quantity  must  have  as  their  primary 
consideration  the  development  of  the  creative  power  of  the 
human  agents. 


VIII   THE  BASIS  OF  EMPLOYEE 
REPRESENTATION 

Just  enough  shop  committees  went  into  the  scrap  heap  when 
the  depression  of  1920  and  1921  came,  to  give  rise  to  the  im- 
pression in  some  quarters  that  the  shop  committee  movement 
had  died  an  early  death.  A  truer  estimate  of  the  situation  would 
be  that  the  depression  weeded  out  shop  committees  in  those 
plants  where  employers  had  entered  into  them  lightly,  hastily,  or 
insincerely.  The  backbone  of  the  shop  committee  movement 
held  firm,  and  employee  representation  is  a  permanent  policy  of 
industrial  psychology  for  a  substantial  number  of  large  and 
small  business  concerns. 

Employee  representation  rests  upon  a  faith  in  the  honesty 
and  fairness  of  ordinary  men.  It  assumes  that  the  ordinary 
worker  has  a  strong  instinct  of  self-assertiveness  and  has  a 
worth  while  mental  contribution  to  make  to  management.  Every 
step  in  employee  representation  requires  the  utmost  honesty  and 
frankness  on  the  part  of  the  management.  The  spirit  of  the 
management  counts  for  more  than  any  other  single  factor. 
Mutual  confidence  is  indispensable.  Employee  representation 
means  believing  in  men  and  getting  them  to  believe  in  their 
managers.  This  mutual  trust  and  confidence  is  usually  a  gradual 
growth,  but  its  results  are  so  wholesome  and  enduring  for  man- 
agers as  well  as  for  workers  that  it  is  worth  all  of  the  patience 
required.  The  center  and  core  of  the  psychology  of  employee 
representation  is  the  sincerity,  candor,  justice,  open-mindedness 
and  intelligence  of  the  management. 


DO   WORKERS   WANT    KNOWLEDGE  AND 
RESPONSIBILITY?1 

The  multitude  of  causes  making  for  the  general  dissatisfac- 
tion prevailing  among  workers  which  is  called  industrial  unrest 

1  Royal    Meeker.      Employees'    Representation    in    Management    of    In- 
dustry.    Monthly   Labor   Review.     Vol.    jo.     February,    1920. 


i6o  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

may  be  compressed  under  three  heads:  (i)  Dissatisfaction  with 
their  wages,  hours,  and  earnings — a  feeling  on  the  part  of  the 
workers  that  they  are  not  receiving  a  fair  share  of  the  product 
of  industry;  a  widespread  belief  that  workers  are  being  ex- 
ploited by  owners,  employers,  and  their  managers.  The  rapid 
rise  in  prices  has  greatly  strengthened  this  belief  even  among 
those  workers  who  have  secured  wage  increases  in  excess  of  in- 
creases in  the  cost  of  living.  Many  thousands  of  workmen  who 
have  profited  greatly  by  the  price  upheavals  of  the  war  period 
firmly  believe  they  are  worse  off  than  before  the  war,  or,  at 
least,  that  the  employers  have  gained  more  than  the  workmen 
and  hence  the  workmen  are  being  done  by  the  employers.  (2) 
Dissatisfaction  with  the  management  of  industry — a  feeling  that 
not  only  are  the  workers  being  exploited  but  that  the  "enter- 
prisers" are  not  as  enterprising  and  their  managers  not  as  cap- 
able as  has  been  commonly  supposed.  Work  is  made  needlessly 
monotonous  and  uninteresting  and  production  is  thereby 
curtailed.  The  workers  feel  that  industries  are  being  conducted 
from  a  distance  by  men  who  have  little  or  no  first-hand  knowl- 
edge of  conditions  and  who  do  not  understand  the  workers'  point 
of  view,  knowledge,  and  capacity.  These  grievances  are  due,  in 
large  part,  to  big  business  organization  which  has  brought  about 
what  may  justly  be  called  "absentee  landlordism"  in  industry. 
(3)  Dissatisfaction  with  the  nature  of  their  work — a  feeling 
that  industry  is  a  treadmill  for  workers  of  all  kinds,  but  espe- 
cially for  manual  workers,  and  that  the  opportunities  for  suc- 
cessful and  permanent  escape  into  managerial,  employing,  and 
capitalistic  positions  are  scarce  and  growing  scarcer  every 
day.  .  . 

Lack  of  interest  in  work  grows  out  of  absentee  ownership. 
The  absent  industrial  landlords,  interested  only  or  principally  in 
dividends,  employed  experts,  scientific  managers,  to  produce  a 
substitute  for  the  old-time  workman's  interest  in  his  work.  The 
scientific  managers  have  been  attacked  so  violently  and  so  fre- 
quently that  I  feel  obliged  to  apologize  for  referring  at  this 
point  to  the  most  obvious  and  fundamental  error  contained  in 
their  original  program.  The  scientific  managers  did  not,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  efficiency  movement,  differentiate  between  the 
workman  and  the  machine  or  tool  with  which  he  worked.  Men 
and  machines  were  to  be  made  to  do  each  operation  the  "easiest" 
way;  that  is,  with  the  least  lost  motion  and  expenditure  of  ef- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  161 

fort.  The  scientific  managers  have  not  yet  grasped  fully  the 
difference  between  a  man  and  a  machine  and  the  economy  of 
making  use  of  the  heads  of  the  workers  as  well  as  their  arms 
and  legs.  A  good  deal  is  said  about  the  worker's  psychology,  as 
though  the  worker  were  some  strange,  wild  beast  with  a  peculiar 
psychology  all  his  own,  quite  different  from  the  psychology  of 
employers  and  managers.  It  is  because  the  psychology  of  the 
worker  is  the  same  as  the  psychology  of  the  employer  and  the 
manager  that  strikes  and  lockouts  occur  with  such  distressing 
frequency.  .  . 

A  man  will  willingly  work  much  harder,  expend  much  more 
energy,  and  be  much  less  fatigued  working  on  a  job  which  he 
has  a  part  in  planning,  and  for  the  results  of  which  he  is  re- 
sponsible. The  present-day  movement  for  industrial  democracy 
is  a  partial  recognition  of  the  fundamental  psychological  phe- 
nomenon that  industrial  fatigue  is  not  simply  an  engineering 
question  to  be  stated  mathematically  in  foot-pounds  per  hour  or 
even  a  physiological  question  having  to  do  with  calories  burned 
up  in  the  body.  Work  is  hard  primarily  because  it  is  uninterest- 
ing and  monotonous,  or  easy  because  it  demands  ingenuity  or 
'skill.  Paradoxical  as  it  seems,  the  way  to  make  work  easier  is 
to  make  it  harder  by  requiring  more  of  the  workmen.  The  men- 
tal application  required  or  the  muscular  effort  put  forth  has 
little  to  do  with  the  hardness  of  a  job.  In  so  far  as  scientific 
management  has  resulted  in  merely  breaking  processes  up  into 
their  component  parts,  segregating  so  far  as  possible  the  purely 
muscular  and  mechanical  operations  from  the  creative  and  plan- 
ning functions,  so-called  "efficiency"  has  resulted  in  the  most 
disastrous  inefficiency.  The  "easier"  specific  operations  or  frac- 
tions of  operations  have  been  made,  the  harder  they  have  be- 
come. All  the  efforts  of  the  scientific  managers  and  efficiency 
experts  to  arouse,  increase  and  maintain  the  interest  of  the 
workman  in  his  work  are  bound  to  be  fruitless  unless  the  work 
itself  is  made  interesting.  The  worker  must  be  called  upon  to 
use  his  head  in  planning  as  well  as  his  hands  and  feet  in  execu- 
ting his  work  if  contentment  is  to  be  attained  in  industry.  .  . 

I  insist  that  the  management,  even  scientific  management,  has 
not  a  monopoly  of  all  the  brains  in  an  establishment.  The 
workers  themselves  can  and  do  contribute  much  in  the  planning 
and  doing  of  the  work.  What  is  of  vastly  more  importance  than 
the  increase  in  production  as  a  result  of  utilizing  the  latent  in- 


162  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

telligence,  ingenuity  and  enthusiasm  of  the  workers,  is  the  in- 
crease in  contentment.  Here  is  a  vast  source  of  industrial  power 
which  has  been  cut  off,  isolated,  by  the  transformation  of  little 
business  into  big  business.  It  will  be  difficult  to  tap  this  source, 
but  tap  it  we  must  if  we  are  to  continue  anything  resembling 
the  present  industrial  organization  with  its  large  scale  produc- 
tion. The  good-will  of  the  workers  is  a  much  more  potent  force 
making  for  industrial  efficiency  than  all  the  scientific  management 
formulas  and  systems  of  production.  There  is  no  inherent 
reason  why  the  good-will  of  the  workers  should  not  go  hand 
in  hand  with  scientific  management.  Until  now  the  workers 
have  had  only  antagonism  for  scientific  management  because  the 
scientific  manager  never  asked  them  for  their  opinions  or  ideas — 
he  only  told  them  what  they  were  expected  to  do  and  the 
workers  promptly  did  something  else.  I  have  already  said 
workers  are  not  different  from  employers.  This  is  precisely 
what  ails  them.  If  employers  will  deal  fairly  and  squarely  with 
their  employees,  let  them  know  all  about  the  business  except 
only  those  technical  processes  which  must  be  kept  secret,  and 
take  them  into  a  real  partnership,  production  will  be  enormously 
improved  both  in  quantity  and  quality.  This  may  be  just  another 
way  of  saying  that  when  the  millennium  comes  there  will  be 
no  industrial  unrest,  for  there  will  be  no  industry,  no  employers 
and  no  employees.  Before  abandoning  ourselves  completely  to 
pessimism  and  despair  we  should  at  least  try  the  experiment  of 
giving  the  workers  a  real  voice  and  responsibility  in  manage- 
ment. , 

THE  ECONOMIC   EFFECTS   OF  TRUSTING 
WORKERS  * 

In  agreement  with  many  critics  of  the  present  industrial 
situation,  I  believe  that  the  most  significant  feature  in  labor 
conditions  of  the  day  is  the  expressed  desire  of  labor  to  share 
in  the  management  of  business.  This  desire  has  taken  on  various 
forms  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  the  Bolshevism  of  Russia 
being  merely  the  idea  carried  to  an  absolute  extreme.  The 
underlying  significance  of  all  these  movements  is  the  final  reali- 

1  Cyrus  McCormick,  Jr.  Address  before  the  National  Safety  Council, 
on  "Cooperation  and  Industrial  Progress."  Scientific  American.  February 
7,  1920. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  163 

zation  that  the  relations  of  employers  and  employees  must,  from 
now  on,  be  formed  on  something  besides  a  cash  basis.  The 
workman  is  as  interested  as  ever  in  his  wages  and  in  his  hours, 
but  he  is  asking  for  more.  Sometimes  the  demands  are  not  well 
understood  even  by  those  putting  them  forward.  What  the 
workmen  really  want  is  self-expression.  They  are  asking  the 
right  to  discuss  and  share  in  the  adjustment  of  matters  affecting 
their  own  interests. 

Many  employers  in  this  country,  sensing  this  situation,  are 
admitting  the  right  of  their  employees  to  discuss,  in  joint  con- 
ference, matters  affecting  the  mutual  interest  of  Capital 
and  Labor.  This,  of  course,  has  involved  a  recognition  of  the 
principle  of  collective  bargaining.  Economists  of  the  older 
school  tell  us  that  collective  bargaining  is  detrimental  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  employees  and  that  any  artificial  interference 
with  wages  will  result  in  an  artificial  attempt  to  regulate  prices. 
They  claim  that  values  are  regulated  by  economic  laws.  This, 
of  course,  is  true  to  a  certain  extent,  but  on  the  other  hand  it 
can  be  argued  that  collective  bargaining  is  an  aid  to  humanity 
and  that  it  allows  other  economic  laws  to  operate  which  might 
otherwise  be  held  in  abeyance.  Not  many  years  ago  the  doc- 
trine of  "caveat  emptor"  ruled  every  economic  transaction  and 
the  business  world  was  permeated  with  the  ethics  of  David 
Harum.  Just  as  that  doctrine  has  vanished,  so  now  is  vanishing 
the  fear  of  collective  bargaining,  and  we  find  ourselves  not  only 
admitting  the  right  of  workmen  to  participate  in  the  determina- 
tion of  working  conditions  but  also  discussing  how  this  right 
may  be  most  surely  exercised.  The  method  finding  most  favor 
in  this  country  can  perhaps  best  be  classified  by  simply  calling  it 
Employee  Representation. 

Reasons  for  Adoption  of  Employee  Representation 

Syndicalism  has  made  such  rapid  strides  in  eastern  Europe 
that  some  men,  not  recognizing  the  fundamental  solidarity  of 
the  American  people  are  afraid  that  this  country  is  about  to 
deliver  itself  to  Bolshevism ;  therefore  they  are  seeking  to  head 
off  this  unrestrained  development  and  to  provide  a  saner  method 
by  which  the  legitimate  desires  of  the  workmen  for  self-expres- 
sion may  be  granted  without  at  the  same  time  completely  ruin- 
ing our  present  industrial  fabric.  Men  of  this  opinion  argue 


164  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

that  the  laborer  has  a  right  to  speak  for  himself,  and  wish  to 
give  him  this  right  before  he  resorts  to  revolution  to  obtain 
by  force  what  he  may  think  is  being  withheld  from  him.  They 
believe  discussion  in  an  open  forum  cannot  but  bring  results 
and  that  through  efficient  cooperation  Capital  and  Labor,  work- 
ing together,  will  avert  any  possible  danger  of  anarchy. 

There  is  close  parallel  existing  between  the  movement  in 
favor  of  employee  representation  and  the  growth  of  democratic 
government.  Europe  in  the  eighteenth  century  considered  Fred- 
erick the  Great's  government  to  be  nearly  ideal.  Later  thinkers 
have  called  his  government  a  benevolent  despotism.  Frederick 
was  autocratic  as  any  Czar  and  his  form  of  government  a 
despotism;  but  because  he  tried  to  do  right  and  interpret,  in 
the  fairest  sort  of  a  way,  the  desires  of  his  people,  his  despotism 
was  benevolent.  Now  until  recent  years  our  industrial  system 
was  also  a  benevolent  despotism.  Large  employers  in  this  coun- 
try and  abroad  instituted  welfare  work;  started  systems  of  in- 
surance and  compensation ;  made  the  conditions  of  their  working 
people  as  pleasant  and  safe  as  possible;  but  everything  that  was 
done  was  paternally  imposed  from,  the  top  and  did  not  come  as 
a  result  of  the  expressed  desire  of  the  great  body  of  employees. 
This  system  was  benevolent,  to  be  sure,  but  it  was  nevertheless 
despotic  to  a  great  extent.  Just  as  benevolent  despotism  in 
politics  has  given  way  to  a  great  democracy  wherein  the  gov- 
erned have  every  right  of  self-expression,  so  in  industry  we  are 
now  finding  the  old  system  being  set  aside.  Now  the  employee 
is  not  only  given  the  right,  but  is  urged  to  accept  it,  to  sit  on 
an  equal  basis  with  his  employer  and  decide  every  question 
which  affects  his  interests.  Industry  is  becoming  democratic. 

It  is  easy  to  point  a  finger  of  scorn  at  our  present  civilization 
and  condemn  it  as  being  overly  materialistic.  Metaphysicians 
from  Aristotle  to  the  present  day  have  argued  against  material- 
ism. Phrasing  their  thoughts  in  the  vernacular  and  adapting 
their  theories  to  modern  times,  we  may  say  that  we  must  find 
some  new  cause  for  our  existence  besides  the  worship  of  the 
almighty  dollar.  The  joy  of  doing  things  rightly  will  in  the 
end  give  men  a  more  real  satisfaction  than  the  material  results 
of  their  efforts.  Applying  metaphysics  to  employee  representa- 
tion, we  may  describe  it  as  a  concrete  effort  to  introduce  moral 
right  into  industry.  It  will  be  many  generations  before  mate- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  165 

rialism  vanishes  from  our  daily  life,  but  surely  employee  repre- 
sentation is  a  step  in  the  right  direction.  Idealism,  after  all, 
is  something  the  world  would  do  well  to  analyze  as  a  necessity 
of  today  rather  than  of  the  Hereafter. 

Looked  at  superficially,  employee  representation  is  expensive. 
It  costs  a  certain  amount  of  money  to  pay  the  added  salaries, 
to  do  the  clerical  work  involved,  and  the  like ;  but  those  employers 
who  have  had  the  best  experience  say  that  it  is  really  economical 
and  efficient.  They  believe  it  pays;  they  believe  the  added 
interest  a  man  must  have  in  his  work  when  he  knows  he  has  a 
share  in  the  control  of  it,  will  go  a  great  way  toward  bringing 
about  the  final  efficiency  of  production  which  must  be  secured  if 
the  present  pace  of  manufacturing  is  to  be  maintained.  Scien- 
tific management  has  just  one  more  step  to  take.  It  must 
become  endowed  with  soul  in  order  to  become  more  efficient; 
and  its  savings  must  depend  not  upon  force  or  will,  but  upon  the 
consent  of  the  governed.  The  war  has  proven  that  democratic 
society,  while  superficially  less  efficient  than  autocracy,  is  in  the 
end  far  stronger  in  the  face  of  the  most  awful  competition 
human  ingenuity  can  devise. 


RESTORING  PERSONAL  CONTACT  IN   LARGE 
SCALE  INDUSTRY  l 

The  personal  relationship  which  existed  in  bygone  days  is 
essential  to  the  development  of  this  new  spirit.  It  must  be 
reestablished;  if  not  in  its  original  form,  at  least  as  nearly  so 
as  possible.  In  the  early  days  of  the  development  of  industry, 
the  employer  and  capital  investor  were  frequently  one.  Daily 
contact  was  had  between  him  and  his  employees,  who  were  his 
friends  and  neighbors.  Any  questions  which  arose  on  either 
side  were  taken  up  at  once  and  readily  adjusted. 

A  feeling  of  genuine  friendliness,  mutual  confidence  and 
stimulating  interest  in  the  common  enterprise  was  the  result. 
How  different  is  the  situation  today.  Because  of  the  proportions 
which  modern  industry  has  attained,  employers  and  employees 
are  too  often  strangers  to  each  other.  Personal  contact,  so  vital 
to  the  success  of  any  enterprise,  is  practically  unknown,  and 

1  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.  Address  before  the  Industrial  Conference 
at  Atlantic  City,  October  16,  1919.  Industrial  Management,  p.  403-4.  No- 
vember, 1919. 


166  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

naturally,  misunderstanding,  suspicion,  distrust  and  too  often 
hatred  have  developed,  bringing  in  their  train  all  the  industrial 
ills  which  have  become  far  too  common.  Where  men  are 
strangers  and  have  no  points  of  contact,  this  is  the  usual  out- 
come). On  the  other  hand,  where  men  meet  frequently  about  a 
tablej  rub  elbows,  exchange  views  and  discuss  matters  of  com- 
mon interest,  almost  invariably  it  happens  that  the  vast  majority 
of  their  differences  quickly  disappear  and  friendly  relations  are 
established.  Much  of  the  strife  and  bitterness  in  industrial 
relations  results  from  lack  of  ability  or  willingness  on  the  part 
of  both  labor  and  capital  to  view  their  common  problems  each 
from  the  other's  point  of  view. 

A  man  who  recently  devoted  some  months  to  studying  the 
industrial  problem  and  who  came  in  contact  with  thousands  of 
workmen  in  various  industries  throughout  the  country  has  said 
that  it  was  obvious  to  him  from  the  outset  that  the  working 
men  were  seeking  for  something,  which  at  first  he  thought  to 
be  higher  wages.  As  his  touch  with  them  extended,  he  came 
to  the  conclusion,  however,  that  not  higher  wages  but  recognition 
as  men  was  what  they  really  sought.  What  joy  can  there  be  in 
life,  what  interest  can  a  man  take  in  his  work,  what  enthusiasm 
can  be  expected  to  develop  on  behalf  of  his  employer,  when  he 
is  regarded  as  a  number  on  a  payroll,  a  cog  in  the  wheel,  a 
mere  "hand."  Who  would  not  earnestly  seek  to  gain  recognition 
of  his  manhood  and  the  right  to  be  heard  and  treated  as  a 
human  being  and  not  as  a  machine? 

While  obviously  under  present  conditions  those  who  invest 
their  capital  in  an  industry,  often  numbered  by  the  thousand, 
cannot  have  personal  acquaintance  with  the  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  those  who  invest  their  labor,  contact  between 
these  two  parties  in  interest  can  and  must  be  established,  if 
not  directly,  then  through  their  respective  representatives.  The 
resumption  of  such  personal  relations  through  frequent  con- 
ference and  current  meetings,  held  for  the  consideration  of 
matters  of  common  interest  such  as  terms  of  employment,  and 
working  and  living  conditions,  is  essential  in  order  to  restore 
a  spirit  of  mutual  confidence,  good-will  and  cooperation.  Per- 
sonal relations  can  be  revived  under  modern  conditions  only 
through  the  adequate  representation  of  the  employees.  Repre- 
sentation is  a  principle  which  is  fundamentally  just  and  vital 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  167 

to  the  successful  conduct  of  industry.  This  is  the  principle 
upon  which  the  democratic  government  of  our  country  is  founded. 
On  the  battlefields  of  France  this  nation  poured  out  its  blood 
freely  in  order  that  democracy  might  be  maintained  at  home 
and  that  its  beneficent  institutions  might  become  available  in 
other  lands  as  well.  Surely  it  is  not  consistent  for  us  as 
Americans  to  demand  democracy  in  government  and  practice 
autocracy  in  industry. 

What  can  this  Conference  do  to  further  the  establishment 
of  democracy  in  industry  and  lay  a  sure  and  solid  foundation 
for  the  permanent  development  of  cooperation,  good-will  and 
industrial  well-being?  To  undertake  to  agree  on  the  details  of 
plans  and  methods  is  apt  to  lead  to  endless  controversy  without 
constructive  result.  Can  we  not,  however,  unite  in  the  adoption 
of  the  principle  of  representation,  and  the  agreement  to  make 
every  effort  to  secure  the  endorsement  and  acceptance  of  this 
principle  by  all  chambers  of  commerce,  industrial  and  commer- 
cial bodies  and  all  organizations  of  labor?  Such  action  I  feel 
confident  would  be  overwhelmingly  backed  by  public  opinion  and 
coordially  approved  by  the  Federal  Government.  The  assurance 
thus  given  of  a  closer  relationship  between  the  parties  to 
industry  would  further  justice,  promote  good-will  and  help  to 
bridge  the  gulf  between  capital  and  labor. 

It  is  not  for  this  or  any  other  body  to  undertake  to  determine 
for  industry  at  large  what  form  representation  shall  take.  Once 
having  adopted  the  principle  of  representation,  it  is  obviously 
wise  that  the  method  to  be  employed  should  be  left  in  each 
specific  instance  to  be  determined  by  the  parties  in  interest. 
If  there  is  to  be  peace  and  good-will  between  the  several  parties 
in  industry,  it  will  surely  not  be  brought  about  by  the  enforce- 
ment upon  unwilling  groups  of  a  method  which  in  their  judgment 
is  not  adapted  to  their  peculiar  needs.  In  this,  as  in  all  else, 
persuasion  is  an  essential  element  in  bringing  about  conviction. 
With  the  developments  in  industry  what  they  are  today  there 
is  sure  to  come  a  progressive  evolution  from  autocratic  single 
control,  whether  by  capital,  labor,  or  the  state,  to  democratic 
cooperative  control  by  all  three.  The  whole  movement  is  evolu- 
tionary. That  which  is  fundamental  is  the  idea  of  representation, 
and  that  idea  must  find  expression  in  those  forms  which  will 
serve  it  best,  with  conditions,  forces,  and  times,  what  they  are. 


i68  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 


HONESTY  IN  COOPERATION  1 

Another  committee  that  marks  a  long  step  forward  is  the 
efficiency  committee.  The  very  word  "efficiency"  is  anathema 
to  the  worker,  because  he  associates  it  with  grinding,  wearing 
force  that  means  more  dollars  for  the  owner  and  a  broken  con- 
stitution for  him.  True  efficiency,  of  course,  means  nothing  of 
the  sort;  it  means  the  utilization  of  the  waste  time  and  motion, 
and  is  an  addition  to  the  power  of  the  worker.  Only  through 
the  workers'  own  government  can  the  best  efficiency  results  be 
obtained,  and  by  enlisting  their  intelligent  help  the  subject  can 
be  made  of  absorbing  interest.  .  . 

The  efficiency  committee  will  not  only  make  smooth  the  path 
to  better  methods,  but  through  suggestion  systems  and  investi- 
gations of  their  own  will  often  do  more  toward  real  economy 
of  operation  than  it  is  possible  for  any  professional  engineer  to 
do.  In  one  plant  the  men  have  themselves  re-designed  nearly 
every  machine  in  the  place,  with  astounding  results  in  the  way 
of  production,  quality,  and  lowering  of  sales  price,  with  an  in- 
crease of  wages  to  the  men  and  profits  to  the  company.  In  an- 
other factory,  within  six  months  from  the  time  the  workers  were 
given  a  voice  in  the  management,  they  devised  more  improved 
machinery  than  had  been  known  in  that  particular  industry 
within  twenty  years. 

Shop  committees  are  far  better  equipped  t6  deal  with  union 
matters  than  are  employers.  We  all  like  to  dodge  the  fact  that 
unions  exist;  we  like  to  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  they  are 
growing  and  that  no  manager  can  today  say:  "I f refuse  to  recog- 
nize unions  as  such;  I  will  deal  only  with  men  on  the  pay-roll." 
Unions  are  here  and  to  stay,  and  they  grow  steadily  more 
powerful.  It  is  for  the  employers  to  take  them  as  aids  to  prog- 
ress or  as  antagonists. 

Meeting  them  as  antagonists,  fights  and  more  fights  are 
bound  to  occur,  and  each  fight  leaves  the  corporation  combatant 
weaker.  But  there  can  be  no  antagonism  when  the  corporation 
representatives  appointed  to  deal  with  union  affairs  are  them- 
selves union  men,  elected  by  the  body  of  the  workers  to  pre- 
serve their  own  best  interests. 

1  William  R.  Basset.  When  the  Workmen  Help  You  Manage,  p.  131-5- 
The  Century  Company.  New  York.  1919- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  169 

Take  several  specific  caseSi  A  strike  was  ordered  in  the 
garment  trade  in  a  Middle  Western  city,  and  every  factory  but 
one  closed.  In  that  one  factory  the  committee  (and  all  its  mem- 
bers were  union  men)  stated  that  it  would  not  be  right  to  penal- 
ize their  fellows  and  employers  for  the  sins  of  others,  and  they 
refused  to  strike — and  also  preserved  their  union  standing.  In 
an  iron-working  shop,  the  mass  meeting  called  by  the  committee 
to  consider  the  union  demands  for  a  closed  shop  voted  against 
closure — and  the  chairman  of  that  meeting  was  president  of  the 
local  union. 

Unions  do  not  all  want  to  fight.  A  few  union  business  agents 
think  that  their  own  jobs  depend  upon  the  amount  of  trouble 
they  can  stir  up,  but,  generally  speaking,  union  workers  do  not 
differ  from  other  workers  unless  they  are  smarting  under  a 
sense  of  injustice,  and  then,  just  like  other  people,  they  do  want 
to  get  back  at  the  boss.  The  union  tenets  of  closed  shop,  limita- 
tion of  output,  regulation  of  hours,  and  the  fixing  of  wages  are 
all  part  of  an  economic  defensive  that  need  not  be  and  is  not 
maintained  when  the  reasons  for  it  vanish.  And  under  auton- 
omous works'  control  the  reasons  do  vanish. 


IX.  INTEREST  AND  INCENTIVES 
IN  INDUSTRY 

The  two  notions  are  equally  misleading  that  all  work  must 
ever  be  irksome  and  that  all  work  is  capable  of  being  made 
pleasant.  Psychology  does  not  proclaim  that  drudgery  can  be 
abolished  or  that  work  can  be  made  to  take  on  the  nature  of  a 
picnic  or  a  sport.  The  proposal  which  psychology  makes  is  a 
moderate  and  a  reasonable  one, — namely,  that  most  work  can  be 
invested  with  a  substantial  amount  of  interest  and  pleasure. 
The  irksomeness  of  work  can  be  miminized  and  positive  interest 
in  the  accomplishment  of  the  task  can  be  aroused,  by  the  proper 
appeal  to  human  instincts  and  incentives.  Non-financial  incen- 
tives are  fully  as  important  as  financial  incentives,  and  a  perma- 
nent and  spontaneous  interest  in  work  can  come  only  by  a  satis- 
faction of  both  types  of  motives. 


AROUSING  INTEREST  IN  WORK 1 

Much  has  been  written  about  the  monotonous  character  of 
present-day  industrial  work;  and  much  is  now  being  written 
about  the  workmanly,  manipulative,  constructive,  creative  im- 
pulses which  appear  to  be  a  native  part  of  human  equipment, 
and  of  which,  it  is  claimed,  little  use  is  made  or  can  be  made  in 
the  average  factory.  Industry  is  under  indictment  on  the  ser- 
ious count  of  failing  to  provide  any  reasonable  outlet  for  cer- 
tain fundamentally  necessary  and  useful  tendencies  of  the  hu- 
man organism.  It  is  accused  of  cramping  and  stultifying  the  in- 
dividual; of  making  it  impossible  for  him  to  find  interest  and 
fulfilment  of  life  in  work. 

Certainly  no  more  serious  situation  could  be  conceived  than 
one  in  which  millions  of  people  are  destined  to  be  confined  for 
eight  or  nine  hours  of  close  application,  to  labors  which  are  in- 
differently or  even  grudgingly  performed.  It  is  hardly  an  ex- 

1  Ordway  Tead  and  Henry  C.  Metcalf.  Personnel  Administration,  p. 
199-205.  McGraw  Hill  Book  Company.  New  York.  1920. 


i;2  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

aggeration  to  say  that  the  permanence,  productivity  and  human- 
ity of  any  industrial  system  stands  or  falls  in  the  last  analysis 
upon  its  ability  to  utilize  the  positive  and  constructive  impulses 
of  all  who  work, — upon  its  ability  to  arouse  and  continue  the 
interest  of  the  workers.  The  problem,  therefore,  demands 
searching  study  if  we  are  to  answer  such  inevitable  questions  as : 
Is  interest  in  work  as  now  carried  on  possible?  If  it  is  possible, 
how  is  it  to  be  aroused?  If  it  is  not,  how  can  we  so  modify 
conditions  that  interest  will  arise? 

The  question  of  interest  in  work  is  an  intensely  practical 
one.  The  fact  that  much  of  the  discussion  of  it  has  bordered 
on  the  sentimental  need  not  disturb  us  if  we  will  preface  our 
study  with  a  careful  analysis  of  the  concepts  of  "interest"  and 
of  "monotony." 

People  are  interested  when  an  activity  tends  to  keep  occupy- 
ing the  attention — that  is,  absorbing  them  by  some  appeal  either 
of  its  difficulty,  or  downright  enjoyment  in  its  performance,  of 
approbation  of  one's  fellows  because  of  proficiency,  or  of  some 
other  significance  in  the  activity.  People  are  interested  when 
attention  has  passed  the  point  of  conscious  effort  and  becomes 
eager,  immediate  and,  so  to  say,  spontaneous.  Attention  can  be 
so  commanded  when  we  are  actively  engaged,  have  a  definite 
object  to  attend  to,  and  recognize  something  at  stake,  "something 
whose  outcome  is  important  for  the  individual." 

A  display  of  interest  is  therefore  a  display  of  "self-expressive 
activity."  One  is  interested  when  one  can  register  in  the  activity 
— in  terms  of  self  and  group  approval, — register  in  the  doing 
and  in  the  result.  And  that  sense  of  self-satisfaction  can  grow 
only  as  the  root  desires  of  the  individual  are  being  realized. 
What  those  root  desires  are,  we  have  already  considered.  We 
want  to  and  we  must  register  in  terms  of  manipulation,  work- 
manship, creation;  in  terms  of  group  conformity  and  recogni- 
tion, of  emulation,  and  curiosity.  Wherever,  said  William 
James,  a  process  of  life  communicates  an  eagerness  to  him  who 
lives  it,  there  the  life  becomes  genuinely  significant. 

Important  elements  in  a  condition  of  interest  are  therefore 
self-choice  of  the  activity,  pleasure  in  its  continuance,  a  sense  of 
significance  and  value  in  its  performance,  and  opportunity  to 
secure  the  approval  of  one's  associates. 

A  condition  of  monotony  exists  where  these  elements  are 
lacking.  Remove  the  chance  for  self-choice  of  the  action,  for 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  173 

understanding  its  significance,  for  having  the  approval  of  one's 
fellows,  and  the  labor  is  sheer  drudgery.  "Monotony  means  that 
growth,  development,  have  ceased."  Monotony  is  present  when 
work  has  become  so  habitual  as  to  be  automatic,  (that  is,  it  is 
making  no  demands  upon  the  active  attention)  ;  or  when  work 
is  found  to  be  temperamentally  uncongenial,  or  is  thus  for  any 
reason  precluding  the  chance  for  self-expression  and  develop- 
ment through  the  work. 

If  these  definitions  are  correct,  interest  and  monotony  are 
not  characteristics  of  certain  kinds  of  work.  They  are  charac- 
teristics of  people  in  their  reaction  to  work.  A  job  is  not  in- 
herently interesting,  not  inherently  monotonous.  It  is  interesting 
or  monotonous  to  a  worker.  There  are  inevitably  these  two 
aspects  contributing  to  create  the  one  fact  of  the  worker-in-his- 
relation-to-his-work.  The  two  must  in  each  separate  case  fit; 
the  worker  must  find  the  job  that  satisfies  him.  He  must  be 
able  to  register  there ;  and  in  order  that  this  may  happen  it  must 
fit  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  opportunity  for  him,  in  relation 
to  his  capacity,  and  in  relation  to  his  motives  and  desires.  It  is, 
in  short,  a  dynamic  and  changing  fact.  The  worker  is  either 
progressively  more  interested  because  the  adjustment  is  always 
improving;  or  he  is  progressively  less  interested — and  usually 
less  capable  of  being  interested  in  the  work. 

Jobs  as  jobs,  therefore,  are  neither  interesting  nor  the  op- 
posite. It  all  depends  on  the  relationship  between  individual 
jobs  and  individual  workers.  But  there  are,  of  course,  jobs 
which  because  of  their  simple  content  do  quickly  become 
habitual  and  then  automatic.  Any  prolonged  performance  of 
such  operations  will,  of  course,  become  monotonous  and  whether 
or  not  these  jobs  as  now  constituted  can  of  themselves  be  in- 
teresting is  in  our  opinion  a  grave  question.  The  possibility  of 
developing  a  derived  interest  for  this  type  of  work  must  be  con- 
sidered. 

But  there  are  many  jobs  usually  thought  of  as  monotonous, 
which  require  thought,  care  and  attention,  and  could  therefore 
be  much  more  interesting  than  they  are,  if  only  the  worker  had 
the  knowledge,  ability,  aptitude  and  background,  out  of  which 
interest  would  normally  arise. 

This  points  to  a  fundamental  need — the  need  for  analysis  of 
the  intellectual  content  of  jobs.  From  the  point  of  wise  selec- 
tion of  workers,  promotion,  transfer,  modifications  in  process 


174  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

and  training,  we  need  more  exact  data  as  to  what  qualities,  apti- 
tudes, traits  of  temperament  and  technical  knowledge  each  job 
demands.  Such  study,  we  can  confidently  predict  from  all  the 
job  analysis  which  has  thus  far  been  done,  will  reveal  an  aston- 
ishing amount  of  special  skill  required  at  many  supposedly 
monotonous  tasks. 

Such  study  will,  moreover,  tell  us  how  many  jobs  of  each 
different  kind  there  are  in  a  factory.  We  know  that  it  is  in- 
accurate to  speak  of  all  factory  work  as  repetitive  drudgery. 
The  work  of  machine  maintenance  occupies  some  workers.  The 
handling  of  materials  and  trucking  occupies  others.  There  is 
assembling,  inspection,  packing,  shipping.  The  actual  propor- 
tion of  unskilled  machine-feeders  varies  from  plant  to  plant; 
but  apparently  it  runs  between  forty  per  cent  and  eighty  per  cent. 
We  must  not  ignore  the  fact,  however,  that  the  elements  of 
insecurity  in  the  job,  non-control  over  work,  little  significance 
in  the  work,  little  chance  for  fellow  workers'  approval,  may  all 
be  present  at  repetitive  and  non-repetitive  jobs  alike,  and  that 
monotony  exists  wherever  the  chance  to  make  the  job  one  with 
one's  self  is  no  longer  present. 

The  Worker's  Attitude  Toward  Interest. — Our  discussion  of 
methods  of  arousing  interest  in  work  will  be  clearer  if  we  con- 
sider next  two  important  objections  to  any  definite  effort  in  this 
direction.  It  is  said,  first,  that  workers  seem  to  like  automatic 
jobs;  second,  that  they  don't  want  to  be  interested  in  their  work. 
Both  points  have  such  elements  of  truth  in  them  that  they  de- 
serve careful  scrutiny. 

There  are  at  least  two  important  reasons  why  some  workers 
seem  to  like  automatic  jobs.  The  job  must,  of  course,  always  be 
seen  in  relation  to  the  individual's  capacities  and  to  his  desires. 
The  capacity  and  desire  of  a  given  worker  is  determined  by 
many  factors.  But  second  to  none  in  significance  are  the  factors 
which  moulded  his  life  and  outlook  from  birth  to  his  fifth  or 
sixth  year.  A  childhood  spent  in  the  restrictions  of  a  tenement 
environment  with  its  precocious  developments  in  some  direc- 
tions, its  enforced  repressions  in  others,  its  complete  effacement 
of  certain  qualities  and  values,  may  well  create  a  mental  life 
which  is  incapable  of  securing  the  normal  responses.  "Repres- 
sion," it  has  been  thoughtfully  said,  "often  expresses  itself  very 
strikingly  in  the  decrease  of  such  emotions  as  have  been  pres- 
ent and  the  non-appearance  of  expected  new  emotions." 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  175 

The  repression  may  be  an  infantile  one;  it  may  be  due  to 
long  years  of  dull,  unpromising  work.  But  the  fact  remains 
that  individuals  are  responding  to  stimuli  in  a  pathological  way 
when  they  are  content  with  automatic  jobs. 

Again,  this  repression  may  be  invited  and  continued  because 
of  the  habits  and  attitude  of  the  surrounding  group.  John 
Stuart  Mill  gives  an  accurate  characterization  of  much  working 
class  behavior  when  he  says: 

"Even  in  what  people  do  for  pleasure,  conformity  is  the 
first  thing  thought  of;  they  live  in  crowds  .  .  .  until  by  dint  of 
not  following  their  own  nature,  they  have  no  nature  to  follow ; 
they  become  incapable  of  strong  wishes  or  native  pleasures,  and 
are  generally  without  either  opinions  or  feelings  of  home 
growth,  or  properly  their  own." 

In  other  words,  lack  of  interest  breeds  lack  of  interest, 
until  a  situation  arises  wherein  it  may  actually  be  bad  form  to 
like  one's  job. 

There  remains  the  second  objection  that  workers  do  not 
want  to  be  interested  in  their  work.  Where  this  is  the  case, 
it  is  often  true  that  habituation  to  drudgery  has  led  to  a  more 
or  less  unconscious  conclusion  that  work  cannot  be  interesting. 
Many  older,  habituated  ^routineers  undoubtedly  hold  this  con- 
viction ;  the  hope  is  with  the  younger,  less  fixated  groups. 

It  is  indeed  hard  to  visualize  the  outlook  and  environment 
as  it  may  present  itself  to  the  worker. 

"It  is,"  says  an  observing  economist,  "not  sufficiently  con- 
sidered how  little  there  is  in  most  men's  ordinary  life  to  give 
any  largeness  either  to  their  conceptions  or  to  their  sentiments. 
Their  work  is  routine;  not  a  labor  of  love,  but  of  self-interest 
in  the  most  elementary  form,  the  satisfaction  of  daily  wants; 
neither  the  thing  done,  nor  the  process  of  doing  it,  introduces 
the  mind  to  thoughts  or  feelings  extending  beyond  the  individual; 
if  instructive  books  were  within  their  reach,  there  is  no  stimulus 
to  read  them;  and,  in  most  cases,  the  individual  has  no  access 
to  any  person  of  cultivation  much  superior  to  his  own.  Giving 
him  something  to  do  for  the  public  supplies,  in  a  measure,  all 
these  deficiencies.  If  circumstances  allow  the  amount  of  public 
duty  assigned  to  him  to  be  considerable,  he  becomes  an  educated 
man." 

There  is  finally,  the  fear  of  exploitation  if  interest  in  work 
is  pushed  to  a  point  where  the  employer  gets  a  much  larger 


176  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

proportionate  return  for  increased  product  than  the  worker. 
There  is  reason  for  this  fear;  and  no  manager  who  wants  to 
introduce  a  thorough-going  program  to  secure  interest  can  neglect 
to  recognize  the  place  of  rewards  in  the  scheme  of  incentives. 
To  stress,  as  some  have,  the  phrase  "non-financial"  incentives, 
is  almost  to  prejudice  in  advance  the  case  for  greater  interest. 

To  be  sure  the  sole  and  primary  incentive  to  interest  and 
effort  is  not  the  pay  envelope.  The  most  deep  rooted  incentives 
are  non-financial.  But  that  does  not  argue  for  any  ignoring 
of  the  financial  considerations  or  of  the  necessity  for  doing 
justice  in  the  matter  of  income  distribution.  The  arousing  of 
interest  is  not  synonomous  with  efforts  to  "speed  up"  production, 
to  cut  wage  rates,  to  increase  profits.  At  that  moment  when 
workers  feel  they  are  being  tricked  into  interest  in  work  in 
order  that  their  employer  may  get  added  returns,  the  game 
will  be  up  with  the  employer.  Hand  in  hand  with  the  develop- 
ment of  methods  of  stimulating  interest  in  work,  must  go 
methods  of  decentralizing  control  over  process  and  over 
earnings.  How  this  may  be  done  we  are  considering  in  other 
chapters.  The  immediate  point  is  that  the  creation  of  interest 
in  work  is  not  a  Machiavellian  enterprise  in  which  something 
can  be  given  with  one  hand  and  taken  with  the  other. 

In  short,  the  efforts  of  the  employment  administrator  to 
make  work  interesting  are,  if  they  are  intelligently  pursued, 
neither  disruptive  of  morale  nor  exploitive  in  character.  In 
stimulating  interest  we  are  endeavoring  to  hasten  an  educational 
process  which  shall  simultaneously  arouse  discontent  with  a 
meager,  narrow  life  and  provide  channels  for  securing  the 
permanent  satisfactions  of  a  life  of  wider  outlook  and  constant 
growth. 

Because  this  is  an  educational  process,  it  is  not  calculated 
to  disrupt  the  whole  scheme  of  workers'  habits  and  outlook  so 
that  they  are  without  stability.  Nor  is  it  necessarily  calculated 
to  stir  up  longings  which  cannot  be  satisfied,  nor  to  let  loose 
impulses  and  desires  which  are  anti-social  in  their  manifestations 
and  consequences. 

To  create  interest  in  work  means  rather  to  make  work 
contribute  to  the  upbuilding  of  personality;  it  is  to  attempt  to 
restore  a  greater  unity  to  life,  and  remove  the  present  wide 
gulf  between  work  and  pleasure,  between  the  getting  of  a 
livelihood  and  the  living  of  a  life.  To  create  interest  in  work 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  i?7 

is  thus  a  fundamental  part  of  the  educational  function  of  the 
factory.  And  there  are  practical  methods  under  which  this 
education  can  be  undertaken. 

These  methods  are  discussed  in  the  remainder  of  the  chapter, 
not  on  the  assumption  that  any  one  plant  can  or  should  neces- 
sarily adopt  them  all ;  but  because  together  they  offer  a  program 
of  action  in  a  campaign  of  securing  interest,  which  is  compre- 
hensive and  worth  working  on  over  a  period  of  years.  It  is 
not  a  problem  which  can  be  solved  by  cure-alls;  a  balanced 
plan  is  essential. 


INTEREST  AROUSED  BY  INFORMATION  1 

Interest  in  a  thing  may  be  developed  by  means  of  extending 
information  about  it.  Men  who  sell  are  undoubtedly  dimly 
aware  of  this  principle,  for  they  are  introducing  into  their 
selling  campaigns  with  increasing  frequency  informational  dis- 
quisitions about  their  goods.  They  describe  the  source  of  the 
raw  materials,  processes  of  manufacture,  ingenious  methods  of 
using  the  finished  product,  historical  facts  about  the  firm  or  its 
founders.  These  devices  represent  more  or  less  conscious  appli- 
cations of  our  principle,  and  have  grown  apace  with  the  increasing 
effectiveness  of  selling  methods. 

Leaving  the  unlimited  possibilities  of  applying  the  doctrine 
of  interest  to  marketing  methods  let  us  pass  on  to  other  eco- 
nomic implications.  One  of  the  most  perplexing  problems  now 
before  the  public  is  the  relation  between  the  worker  and  his 
job.  Business  executives  ask,  "how  can  we  interest  our  men 
in  their  work  so  that  they  will  work  effectively  and  contentedly?" 
This  is  only  one  statement  of  a  host  of  difficulties  relating  to 
the  industrial  morale.  It  is  practically  and  theoretically  recog- 
nized that  in  order  to  secure  the  best  possible  results  from  a 
man  we  must  interest  him  in  what  he  is  doing.  James,  with 
his  penchant  for  expressing  such  ideas  in  racy  terms,  likens 
the  situation  to  the  lowly  crap  game.  "The  performances  of 
a  'high'  brain  are  like  dice  thrown  forever  upon  a  table.  Unless 
they  be  loaded  what  chance  is  there  that  the  highest  number 
will  turn  up  oftener  than  the  lowest?"  In  other  words,  if  we 

1 H.  D.  Kitson.  Journal  of  Political  Economy.  Vol.  28.  p.  334-6. 
April,  1920. 


178  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

wish  to  secure  a  high  grade  of  work  from  our  employees  we 
must  load  them  with  interest  in  the  firm  and  the  product. 

Perhaps,  it  is  pertinent  to  the  point  to  inquire,  can  the  average 
employee  become  interested  in  a  thing  for  which  he  has  no 
spontaneous  liking?  Many  business  executives  sigh  a  hopeless 
negative.  The  psychologist  answers  affirmatively.  James  goes 
so  far  as  to  assert: 

"Any  object  not  interesting  itself  may  become  interesting.  .  . 
An  adult  man's  interests  are  almost  every  one  of  them  intensely 
artificial;  they  have  been  slowly  built  up.  The  objects  of  pro- 
fessional interest  are  most  of  them  in  their  original  nature  re- 
pulsive ;  but  by  their  connection  with  such  natively  exciting  ob- 
jects  as  one's  personal  fortune,  one's  social  responsibilities  and 
especially  by  the  force  of  inveterate  habit,  they  grow  to  be  the 
only  things  for  which  in  middle  life  a  man  profoundly  cares." 

So  the  business  executive  may  take  heart.  This  fluffy-pated 
salesgirl  at  the  basement  glove  counter  may,  if  properly  aroused, 
become  as  thoroughly  interested  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
gloves  as  she  is  in  the  latest  modes  of  hairdressing.  That  lacka- 
daisical ledger  clerk  buried  in  the  sporting  page  when  he  should 
be  posting  remittances  may  be  transformed  so  that  he  will  be 
equally  interested  in  increasing  the  collections  of  the  firm.  The 
course  for  the  employer  to  pursue  is  to  start  a  campaign  toward 
the  development  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  force.  This  may 
seem  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  responsibility  as  usually  stated. 
The  employer  insists  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  employee  to  de- 
velop his  own  interest  voluntarily.  But  this  is  not  a  fair  de- 
mand. It  is  incumbent  upon  the  employer  to  offer  stimulants  to 
this  interest.  As  business  executives  become  aware  of  the  mag- 
nificent human  material  just  awaiting  a  galvanizing  touch,  they 
will  begin  to  select  certain  bright  young  people  and  definitely 
woo  their  interests. 

How  to  proceed  is  the  practical  problem.  Let  us  consult  our 
psychological  prescription  again.  "Interest  in  a  thing  may  be 
developed  by  extending  information  about  it."  In  applying  this 
in  industry  one  would  tell  the  employees  many  things  about  the 
business,  soaking  them  in  facts  to  the  point  of  saturation.  For 
example,  in  a  textile  mill,  every  employee  should  be  told  the 
facts  about  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin,  the  life  of  Eli  Whit- 
ney, the  different  stages  in  the  invention  of  textile  machinery, 
and  the  struggles  of  the  early  inventors. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  i?y 

To  inculcate  a  deep  affection  and  loyalty  toward  the  firm, 
give  information  about  its  beginnings  and  growth.  One  firm  has 
prepared  a  history  of  the  house  including  biographical  sketches 
of  the  founders  and  of  the  employees  of  long  standing.  This 
first  appeared  in  consecutive  issues  of  the  house  organ  circulat- 
ing among  the  employees,  and  was  so  effective  that  it  was  made 
•into  a  booklet  for  presentation  to  each  employee,  on  his  first 
day  of  employment.  Another  firm  made  its  history  impressive 
by  presenting  it  dramatically  at  one  of  the  regular  "Get- 
togethers"  of  the  personnel. 


THE  FAILURE  OF  MONEY  INCENTIVES 
ALONE 1 

How  can  men  be  made  to  love  their  work?  With  conditions 
as  complex  as  they  are  the  situation  cannot  be  wholly  relieved. 
Men  cannot  be  left  free  to  do  as  they  choose  in  a  society  such 
as  ours.  Yet  when  the  truth  is  understood  many  improvements 
can  be  made.  When  employers  know  that  attractiveness  of 
work  is  more  important  than  pay  they  will  take  pains  to  make 
the  work  attractive.  Money  is  not  as  strong  an  incentive  as  it 
is  usually  supposed  to  be.  When  that  is  all  a  man  gets  from 
his  work  of  course  he  will  take  any  means  possible  to  get.  all  he 
can.  When  he  works  from  other  motives  he  will  become  less 
vividly  conscious  of  the  amount  of  pay  he  receives. 

The  only  remedy  that  will  lastingly  overcome  this  social  un- 
rest is  to  make  work  interesting  for  all  classes  from  the  laborer 
to  the  professional  man.  We  must  forever  get  rid  of  the  notion 
that  anything  interesting  is  for  that  reason  either  useless  or  con- 
ducive to  inefficiency.  The  old  theory  of  education  used  to  be 
that  the  duller,  uninteresting  subjects  were  better  for  the  stu- 
dent that  the  interesting  ones  because  of  the  disciplinary  value 
of  making  the  student  do  what  he  disliked.  The  modern 
method,  which  has  proven  a  better  one,  is  to  present  the  dead 
subjects  in  an  interesting  way.  Psychology  has  shown  that  the 
way  to  do  a  thing  quickly  and  well  is  to  become  intensely  in- 
terested in  it.  Why  not  make  work  interesting?  It  can  be  done 
and  the  employer  will  eventually  save  by  doing  it. 

1  John  J.  B.  Morgan.  Why  Men  Strike.  American  Journal  of  Sociology. 
p.  207-11.  September,  1920. 


i8o  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

If  work  is  to  be  made  interesting  the  recent  stress  upon  effi- 
ciency with  its  consequent  overspecialization  will  have  to  be  cur- 
tailed. To  be  constantly  stressing  the  quantity  and  quality  of 
work  done  is  to  furnish  a  superficial  external  drive.  The  extra 
pay  that  the  man  gets  will  at  first  look  large  but  it  will  appear 
less  and  less,  especially  when  the  scheme  becomes  more  widely 
used  and  all  men  get  more  pay.  The  incentive  will  fail  and  the 
workmen  rebel. 

Enough  variation  must  be  left  in  each  man's  job  to  kill  the 
monotony. 

Each  man  should  be  taught  about  his  job  in  relation  to  the 
others  so  that  he  will  feel  that  he  is  a  vital  part  of  the  or- 
ganization. 

Each  man  should  clearly  see  a  possible  route  for  promotion. 
If  a  man  is  hired  as  a  stoker  with  a  beginning  salary  of  so 
much  with  the  promises  of  periodical  raises  until  a  certain  point 
is  reached,  all  incentive  for  good  work  is  killed  in  that  man. 
He  must  be  able  to  see  where  he  could  go  beyond  the  stage  of 
being  a  stoker.  It  does  not  matter  if  the  man  has  but  one 
chance  in  a  thousand  of  making  a  certain  step,  let  him  know 
he  has  that  chance  and  he  will  inevitably  try  to  be  the  one. 

When  we  were  training  our  great  national  army  each  man 
was  continually  told  that  his  job  was  important  in  the  winning 
of  the  war;  he  was  taught  to  love  his  job,  the  distasteful  job  of 
drilling.  Besides  he  was  filled  with  an  ambition  to  do  his  best 
because  he  was  shown  the  proper  steps  to  gain  promotion  and 
saw  others  being  prompted  through  tests  of  merit.  After  the 
signing  of  the  armistice  no  one  felt  that  he  was  vitally  necessary 
and  to  cap  this  the  War  Department  stopped  all  promotions. 
The  spirit  of  the  soldiers  dropped  like  lead  and  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  get  anything  done.  "What  is  the  use  since  the 
war  is  over  and  I  have  no  chance  of  any  promotion?"  was  the 
cry. 

All  promotions  should  be  based  on  merit  alone  and  in  such 
a  way  that  every  employee  is  convinced  that  it  is  merit  alone 
that  counts.  Tell  him  what  qualities  are  used  in  judging  whether 
a  man  is  to  be  promoted  or  not.  Frankness  on  this  one  subject 
will  work  wonders. 

Not  only  should  the  men  be  given  a  square  deal,  but  pains 
should  be  taken  that  he  knows  that  he  is  being  fairly  treated, 
not  by  blatant  advertising  but  by  open  straightforward  organi- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  181 

zation.  An  employer  may  shower  gifts  upon  his  men  in  the  way 
of  recreation  rooms,  extra  holidays,  bonuses,  etc.,  but  if  he  is 
not  manifestly  fair  the  men  will  spurn  his  gifts  and  believe  that 
he  is  trying  to  appease  them  for  having  robbed  them. 

When  the  workman  was  an  artisan  he  was  interested  in  the 
efficiency  of  the  process  in  which  he  was  engaged  and  took 
pride  in  the  handling  of  his  tools.  Today  the  machine  is  the 
artisan  and  the  workman  the  tool,  and  no  intelligent  man  can 
take  an  interest  in  being  an  efficient  tool.  The  present  industrial 
unrest  will  not  cease  until  the  workman  is  studied  as  a  human 
organism  with  the  purpose  in  mind  of  giving  him  some  interest 
in  his  work  besides  the  pay  he  receives. 


RESTORING  PLEASURE  IN  PRODUCTION  1 

The  biggest  problem  of  personnel  relations  in  industry  is  the  , 
restoration  of  the  elements  of  pleasure  in  production.  The  really 
far-sighted  managers  of  industry  are  realizing  that  such  restora- 
tion will  do  more  to  improve  quality  and  increase  quantity  in 
production  than  any  other  single  thing.  They  are  also  seeing 
that  the  attempt  to  suppress  the  instinct  of  craftsmanship  and 
to  steal  away  its  advantages  from  the  mass  of  the  workers  for 
the  benefit  of  a  few  is  the  most  wasteful  and  destructive  blow 
ever  struck  at  social  well-being.  .  . 

Unless  industry  can  be  so  transformed  as  to  gratify  these 
instincts,  then  industry  and  the  civilization  built  upon  it  will 
break  down  and  disappear. 

Methods  of  Arousing  Interest 

Because  scientific  personnel  relations  are  bringing  about  such 
a  transformation,  they  offer  the  greatest  possibility  of  meeting 
this  problem.  They  propose  an  adjustment  of  the  worker  ac- 
cording to  interests  and  abilities  in  the  midst  of  helpful  sur- 
roundings. They  establish  institutions  to  give  full  outlet  for, 
and  gratification  of,  his  desire  for  planning  and  direction.  They 
offer  an  opportunity  for  him  to  grow  with  his  work  and  to 
share  in  its  prosperity.  This  is  the  only  basis  for  good-will 
between  the  employee  and  the  industrial  process. 

1  A.  M.  Simons.  Personal  Relations  in  Industry,  p.  118-28  The 
Ronald  Press  Company.  New  York.  1921. 


182  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY.  FOR 

Educational  Work 

The  first  step  to  this  end  is  comparatively  simple  and  some- 
what superficial.  The  worker  must  be  given  a  full  understand- 
ing, not  only  of  the  great  industrial  processes  of  which  he  is  a 
part,  but  of  the  ends  toward  which  that  industry  is  tending  and 
of  his  share  in  determining  that  development.  Through  such 
familiar  methods  as  lectures,  moving  pictures,  shop  organs,  trade 
journals,  technical  books  and  periodicals,  and  especially  by  proper 
education  both  in  the  schools  and  the  shops,  the  theoretical 
foundation  of  craftsmanship  may  be  laid.  This  educational 
work  should  give  the  laborer  a  knowledge  of  industry  as  a 
whole.  He  must  be  familiar  with  its  history  and  the  mechanical 
and  personal  changes  that  it  has  undergone.  Upon  this  fascinat- 
ing story  the  labor  movements  of  the  world  rest  for  their  argu- 
ments. Labor  journals  and  all  the  literature  of  the  working- 
class  movement  are  filled  with  industrial  history. 

General  industrial  history  should  be  related  to  the  history  of 
the  special  industry  in  which  the  worker  is  engaged  and  in- 
tegrated with  that  of  the  particular  firm  where  he  is  working. 
He  accordingly  sees  his  direct  relation  to  great  world  processes. 
The  history  of  the  firm  is  one  in  which  the  worker  is  going 
to  write  a  part,  and  he  wishes  to  know  what  others  have  done 
and  in  what  direction  the  whole,  of  which  he  is  a  part,  is  mov- 
ing. Such  a  history  should  explain  the  firm  policies.  If  these 
have  not  been  formulated  in  shape  for  statement,  the  discovery 
of  that  fact  uncovers  a  defect  in  management  which  should  be 
changed. 

Bring  out  the  source  of  materials  and  the  destination  of  the 
product.  Tell  the  story  of  costs,  sales,  methods  of  marketing, 
and  mechanical  transformations.  Changes  in  trade  practice  and 
possibilities  of  improvements  finally  unite  each  job  to  the  en- 
tire process,  if  a  thorough  job  analysis  has  made  the  informa- 
tion available.  If  time  and  motion  studies  have  been  made,  here 
is  a  chance  to  show  the  latest  standards  attained  in  certain  typical 
jobs  and  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  the  worker  In  raising  these 
standards,  which  he  will  then  see  as  stages  in  a  long  process. 
He  will  feel  himself  as  an  important  link  in  that  process,  and 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  183 

will  wish  his  contribution  to  be  worthy  of  all  the  others  who 
have  worked  and  will  work  with  him  in  an  endless  historical 
line. 

Selling  the  House  Policies 

This  method  of  arousing  interest  is  the  one  which  modern 
advertising  has  found  most  valuable  also  in  interesting  con- 
sumers. All  good  advertising  writers  now  insist  upon  the  neces- 
sity of  thorough  familiarity  with  all  the  broader  relations  of  the 
firm,  its  history,  policies,  and  methods  of  work,  as  a  preliminary 
to  presenting  its  product  to  the  public.  The  salesman  is  drilled 
in  these  things,  and  they  are  the  foundation  of  selling  slogans. 

Fred  H.  Colvin,  assistant  editor  of  the  American  Machinist, 
has  noted  that: 

Every  progressive  concern  goes  to  considerable  expense  and 
uses  great  care  to  arouse  enthusiasm  in  salesmen  regarding  the 
merits  of  their  product.  Every  salesman  can  do  better  work 
with  a  firm  conviction  that  the  product  he  sells  has  many  points 
of  superiority  over  rival  products.  Yet  few  firms  pay  any  atten- 
tion as  to  whether  the  men  and  women  who  make  the  product 
even  know  what  it  is  for.  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  if 
the  workers  can  be  enthused  over  the  product,  perhaps  by  the 
same  or  by  entirely  different  methods  than  are  used  for  the 
salesmen,  that  they  will  try  to  make  it  even  better,  or  at  least  to 
maintain  its  quality? 

Subsequent  Value  of  Explanatory  Work 

Such  an  educational  explanation  should,  of  course,  precede 
the  installation  of  any  new  method  of  planning  or  routing  work, 
or  any  change  in  shop  organization.  Without  this  introduction 
such  plans  will  find  hard  running  in  the  factory.  But  if  they 
have  been  preceded  by  thorough  instruction  concerning  the 
chain  of  processes  in  the  plant  and  the  interdependence  of  the 
various  departments  upon  one  another,  the  road  will  be  much 
smoother. 

This  method  offers  an  opportunity  for  the  use  of  executives 
as  teachers  and  lecturers,  and  for  the  development  of  talent  for 
such  work  within  the  force.  A  live  advertising  department  can 
help  in  teaching  the  technique  of  presenting  facts.  This,  in  turn, 
will  also  help  the  advertising  department.  Dull  commonplace 


184  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

presentations  of  fact  to  employees  are  no  more  effectual  in 
arousing  interest  than  are  similar  methods  in  reaching  and  hold- 
ing customers.  Yet  firms  that  will  spend  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  to  catch  the  attention  and  hold  the  good-will  of  con- 
stantly changing  customers,  will  begrudge  a  few  cents  spent  to 
secure  the  interest  and  good-will  of  the  men  and  women  whose 
life  work  is  bound  up  in  the  plant  and  who  have  it  in  their 
power  to  make  or  break  the  firm. 

Integrating   the   Worker  with   Industry 

Nevertheless  this  explanatory  and  educational  work,  no 
matter  how  well  done,  will  be  largely  futile  if  it  is  left  to  stand 
alone.  It  must  be  looked  upon  as  merely  introductory,  requir- 
ing a  follow-up  like  the  advertising  designed  to  bring  inquiries. 
It  is  all  preparatory  to  the  real  work  of  actually  integrating  the 
worker  with  the  industry,  of  putting  substance  into  the  selling 
talk.  To  stop  after  telling  the  employee  the  story  of  the  process 
of  which  he  is  a  part,  only  to  preach  to  him  about  his  solidarity 
with  the  industry,  is  but  to  tantalize  and  aggravate  his  instinc- 
tive desire  to  share  in  that  process. 

This  is  a  fact  which  every  organizer  of  revolt  among  the 
workers  understands  full  well,  and  is  the  reason  why  he  always 
emphasizes  industrial  history.  One  fundamental  problem  of  the 
labor  movement  which  cannot  be  disregarded,  is  that  of  the 
restoration  to  the  mass  of  workers  of  that  common  sharing  in 
the  destiny  and  direction  of  the  industry  which  is  the  foundation 
of  craftsmanship. 

Restoring  Power  to  Gratify  Instincts 

The  problem  of  good-will  in  industry  is  the  problem  of  re- 
storing to  the  productive  process  the  power  to  gratify  the  in- 
stincts of  gregarious  craftsmanship  and  adventure.  The  real 
leaders  in  industrial  management  are  everywhere  realizing  that 
industrial  progress  depends  upon  the  elimination  from  industry 
of  the  elements  that  are  destructive  to  these  instincts. 

One  of  the  most  easily  discernible  of  these  elements  is  that 
of  monotony. 

The  problem  of  monotonous  work,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
like  nearly  all  problems  concerned  with  so  complex  a  thing  as 
industry,  is  not  one  permitting  a  single  solution.  Proper  selec- 
tion helps  to  assign  it  to  those  to  whom  the  monotony  is  less  of 
a  burden.  Proper  job  analysis  will  often  find  a  way  to  supplant 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  185 

it  with  machinery.  Adequate  training  systems  may  make  of 
other  such  positions  stepping-stones  to  less  monotonous  work. 
When  nothing  else  offers,  such  work  may  be  distributed  and 
mixed  with  more  interesting  work. 

Any  work  grows  monotonous  if  it  offers  no  opportunity  for 
planning,  no  view  beyond  the  day's  task,  no  relation  to  bigger 
and  less  monotonous  facts.  All  work  becomes  alive  and  vital 
when  it  engages  the  worker's  initiative  and  offers  a  field  for 
growth  in  both  the  task  and  the  worker. 

Disappearance  of  Initiative  Among  Workmen 

At  one  time  the  American  worker,  more  than  almost  any 
other  contemporary  laborer,  was  intensely  interested  in  his  work 
and  in  methods  of  improving  it.  This  was  the  time  when  Amer- 
ican workingmen  were  granted  more  patents  per  capita  than 
any  national  body  of  workers  before  or  since.  That  the  number 
of  patents  taken  out  by  wage-earners  has  greatly  declined  is  due 
in  part  to  the  greater  complexity  of  modern  industry.  Many  in- 
ventions are  now  made  through  the  work  of  highly  skilled  spe- 
cialists in  research  laboratories.  But  the  multiplicity  and  omni- 
presence of  machinery  should  result  in  a  far  larger  number  of 
small  but  valuable  improvements.  These  are  not  appearing. 
The  worker  does  not  understand  the  principles  back  of  the  ma- 
chine he  uses.  He  does  not  comprehend  its  full  purpose.  Most 
important  of  all,  he  lacks  the  interest  in  improvements  that 
would  not  let  the  mind  of  the  worker  of  a  former  day  rest  until 
he  had  seen  the  improvement  his  mind  had  conceived  take  form 
under  his  hand. 

Managers  have  noticed  this  disappearance  of  initiative  and 
have  sought  to  arouse  it  by  such  methods  as  suggestion  boxes, 
bonuses,  and  prizes.  These  have  their  value  and  their  place, 
but  they  are  in  the  nature  of  stimulants  and  poultices  applied 
to  an  organic  disease.  As  Helen  Marot  has  pointed  out,  "The 
doing  of  tasks  in  factories  for  the  sake  of  rewards,  gives  the 
workers  experience  in  winning  rewards.  As  they  are  interested 
only  in  the  reward,  they  carry  away  no  desire  or  interest  in 
the  work  experience." 

A  Deficiency  of  the  Taylor  System 

The  worker's  interest,  if  it  is  to  run  throughout  the  process, 
must  be  enlisted  in  the  beginning.  He  must  share  in  the  plan- 
ning of  each  step  in  the  work.  This  sounds  impossible  to  the 


186  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

old-fashioned  manager.  It  is  coming  to  be  seen  as  the  easiest 
and  most  profitable  manner  of  managing  industry.  Scientific 
management — the  Taylor  system — began  by  taking  from  the 
worker  all  share  in  the  planning.  The  system  was  based  upon 
the  idea  of  collecting  from  the  whole  body  of  workers  all  the 
trade  knowledge  they  possessed  and  assembling  this  knowledge 
in  a  planning  department.  This  department  was  to  be  conducted 
by  experts,  who  were  to  issue  specific  detailed  orders  as  to  the 
methods  of  work,  which  orders  were  to  be  obeyed  without 
knowledge  or  question.  Frederick  W.  Taylor  has  himself  set 
forth  this  principle  as  follows: 

The  first  of  these  four  great  duties  which  are  undertaken 
by  the  management  is  to  deliberately  gather  in  all  of  the  rule- 
of-thumb  knowledge  which  is  possessed  by  all  the  twenty  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  tradesmen  who  are  at  work  in  the  establishment — 
knowledge  which  has  never  been  recorded,  which  is  in  the 
heads,  hands,  bodies,  in  the  knack,  skill,  dexterity  which  these 
men  possess — to  gather  that  knowledge,  classify  it  and  tabulate  it, 
and  in  most  cases  reduce  it  to  laws  and  rules;  in  many  cases 
work  out  mathematical  formulae  which,  when  applied  with  the 
cooperation  of  the  management  to  the  work  of  the  men,  will 
lead  to  an  enormous  increase  of  the  output  of  the  workmen.  .  . 

The  fourth  principle  is  the  deliberate  division  of  the  work 
which  was  formerly  done  by  the  workmen  into  two  sections, 
one  of  which  is  handed  over  to  the  management.  An  immense 
mass  of  new  duties  is  thrown  on  the  management  which  formerly 
belonged  to  the  workmen. 

The  attempt  to  put  all  the  "heads"  together  in  the  planning 
department,  leaving  nothing  but  "hands"  in  the  shop,  led  to  a 
righteous  revolt  of  labor,  and  upon  this  rock  scientific  manage- 
ment was  almost  wrecked.  There  is  a  common  impression, 
carefully  fostered  by  some  of  the  superficial  efficiency  engineers 
who  have  cast  so  much  discredit  upon  a  helpful  and  earnest 
profession,  that  labor  opposed  the  Taylor  system  only  because  it 
increased  production.  On  the  contrary,  the  indictment  against 
it  almost  invariably  rests  upon  the  attempt  to  deprive  the  worker 
of  all  pleasure  in  his  work — upon  its  deadliness  to  the  instinct 
of  craftsmanship— an  instinct  as  valuable  to  the  management  as 
to  the  men,  and  most  of  all  to  society  as  a  whole. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  187 

THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  NON-FINANCIAL 
INCENTIVES  1 

The  basis  of  all  "non-financial  incentives"  is  interest  in  work. 
Interest  in  work  implies  a  desire  to  produce  actuated  by  internal 
motives  rather  than  external  discipline. 

Production  means  creation  and  the  industrial  creative  func- 
tion in  man  is  a  mental  process  and  lies  in  his  intelligent  adapta- 
tion of  means  to  ends.  It  is  useless,  therefore,  to  look  for  real 
creative  work  unless  the  workman  has  a  chance  to  think  and 
to  plan.  Any  other  working  environment  either  fails  to  attract 
or  actually  repels  the  workman,  and  as  a  consequence  offers 
no  incentive  to  increased  effort. 

Work  which  does  not  call  for  thoughtful  reflection,  and 
which  uses  only  muscular  effort,  tends  to  draw  man  down  to 
the  level  of  the  brute  and  makes  for  industrial  irresponsibility 
and  consequent  social  disorganization.  The  unthinking  man 
cannot  be  a  responsible  man. 

It  is  the  self-conscious  faculty  of  man  which  distinguishes 
him  from  the  animal  and  makes  him  above  all  a  creative  center 
through  which  the  universal  life  giving  power  can  deal  with  a 
particular  situation  in  time  and  space. 

To  use  a  homely  illustration  with  which  every  one  is 
familiar — the  traffic  crowded  street  crossing  cannot  be  regulated 
from  the  City  Hall;  it  requires  an  individual  (the  traffic 
policeman)  in  the  congested  spot  to  deal  with  each  particular 
situation  as  it  arises,  and  upon  his  powers  of  observation  and 
selection  depends  the  orderly  flow  of  traffic. 

It  is  only  through  the  individual  life  that  the  universal  life 
can  act  and  therefore  the  universal  is*  compelled  to  evolve  many 
individuals'  lives  if  organization  and  order  is  to  replace  the 
unorganized  state  represented  by  the  purely  generic  operation 
of  natural  law. 

The  problem  of  social  organization  is,  then,  how  to  organize 
society  upon  the  basis  of  respect  for  the  individual.  This  is 
also  the  industrial  problem  as  well,  for  industry  in  the  broadest 
sense  is  society  in  its  highest  form  of  activity  because  it  is 
essentially  constructive  and  therefore  creative  activity. 

1  R.  B.  Wolf.  Non-Financial  Incentives.  Address  before  the  American 
Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers.  December,  1918. 


188  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

It  was  an  inevitable  corollary  to  the  universal  plan  of 
creation  that  the  individual  life  came  into  being  not  to  create 
material  substance  as  that  had  to  be  before  individual  life 
could  gain  consciousness.  The  function  of  the  individual  life, 
however,  is  to  create  by  a  thought  process  conditions  especially 
selected  to  produce  results  which  nature  unaided  would  fail 
to  produce. 

This  is  what  the  horticulturist  does.  His  power  lies  in  his 
knowledge  of  natural  law  and  his  creations  are  made  possible 
because  he  conforms  to  the  law.  The  uncultivated  orchard 
reverts  to  its  original  wild  state  when  no  longer  attended  by 
man  but  increases  in  productiveness  by  continued  thoughtful 
application  of  man's  power  of  selection  and  adaptation. 

It  is  by  a  similar  process  of  conscious  selection  that  such 
devices  as  the  steamboat,  steam  engine,  electric  generator  and 
the  telephone  came  into  existence.  They  did  not  come  into 
being  and  never  would  have  been  created  by  the  generic  opera- 
tion of  nature's  laws. 

*        *        * 

In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  observe  that  all  of  our 
creations,  if  they  are  to  be  successful,  depend  upon  the  strict 
observance  of  the  laws  of  nature.  When  we  clearly  see  man's 
place  in  the  universal  life  movement  we  can  understand  why 
it  was  that  in  the  lone  process  of  evolution  it  was  inevitable  that 
a  being  capable  of  measuring  by  reflection  be  evolved.  The 
very  word  "man"  is  derived  from  an  Arian  root  meaning  to 
measure. 

All  this  may  seem  at  first  sight  far  removed  from  the  problem 
of  "non-financial  incentives,"  but  it  seems  to  me  it  is  necessary 
before  proceeding  further  to  gain  some  conception  of  the 
reason  for  man's  existence.  The  concrete  illustrations  of  the 
operations  of  non-financial  incentives  will  then  have  greater 
meaning.  ,  , 

This  creation  of  artificial  conditions,  which,  taken  all  together, 
we  call  civilization,  is,  of  course,  the  product  of  man's  organ- 
izing power.  While  self-consciousness,  the  power  of  realizing 
the  self  as  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  universe,  has  been  a 
human  faculty  for  untold  ages  before  the  present  highly  organ- 
ized state  of  society  had  been  attained,  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  now,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  white  race, 
we  are  confronted  with  the  problem  of  correcting  the  repressive 
or  selfish  character  of  civilization  so  that  it  will  serve  the  mass 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  189 

of  humanity.  If  we  fail  to  accomplish  this  it  will  be  destroyed 
by  the  same  creative  power  which  brought  it  into  existence. 

We  must  learn  how  to  change  the  industrial  environment 
from  one  which  repels  mankind  to  one  which  attracts.  In  other 
words,  the  incentive  to  work  must  be  inherent  in  the  nature 
of  the  work  itself. 

Now  what  are  the  conditions  which  we  must  meet  in  the 
industrial  world  to  make  work  attractive?  We  have  ample 
evidence  that  increasing  financial  returns  have  failed  to  stimulate 
productivity  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  constant  demand  for 
shorter  hours  and  the  increasing  labor  turnover  is  proof  that 
work  in  most  of  our  industries  not  only  does  not  attract  but 
actually  repels  the  workman.  We  must,  therefore,  look  into 
the  working  conditions  themselves  for  the  answer.  This  is  the 
only  scientific  method  of  procedure. 

I  would  like  to  quote  from  a  letter  which  was  received  from 
a  very  intelligent  labor  leader  recently,  to  show  how  the  mass 
of  employees  look  at  the  problem  and  how  urgent  is  the  need 
for  its  immediate  solution  if  we  are  not  to  have  a  greatly 
reduced  production  of  the  necessities  of  life  brought  about  by 
the  concerted  action  of  the  workers.  .  . 

You  say  that :  Men  can  be  productive  only  when  they  take 
an  interest  in  their  work  and  they  will  not  take  this  interest 
unless  those  entrusted  with  the  direction  of  their  efforts  realize 
that  they  must  teach  them  constantly  how  to  exercise  their 
creative  powers. 

While  I  agree  with  everything  you  say  relative  to  creative 
work  and  have  thought  along  these  lines  considerably  myself, 
still,  is  it  possible  in  industries,  as  they  are  constituted  at 
present,  to  enable  the  average  workingman  to  do  creative  work? 
Isn't  it  true  that  industry  is  becoming  so  specialized  that  the 
workman  is  no  longer  a  creator?  I  realize  that  while  it  may 
still  be  possible  for  the  workman  doing  certain  jobs  in  the  mill 
to  do  creative  work,  to  a  certain  extent,  still  isn't  the  tendency 
of  modern  industry  more  and  more  toward  making  the  work- 
man simply  an  appendage  of  the  machine?"  .  .  . 

I  was  able  to  convince  the  writer  of  the  letter  from  which 
I  have  quoted  that  creative  work  could  be  done  to  a  great 
extent  in  modern  industry,  and  further,  that  this  could  be 
accomplished,  without  any  radical  changes  in  equipment,  greatly 
to  the  advantage  of  both  employer  and  employee. 


IQO  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

To  do  this,  individual  progress  records  are  necessary  so  that 
the  workman  can  know  from  day  to  day  how  he  is  improving 
in  the  mastery  of  the  process. 

The  first  example  is  from  that  branch  of  the  wood-pulp 
industry  known  as  the  sulphite  process  and  shows  a  cooking 
chart  which  was  designed  to  give  the  cook  information 
about  the  reactions  in  the  digesters  in  which  the  wood  chips 
are  cooked  in  a  six  per  cent  solution  of  sulphurous  acid  partly 
combined  with  a  lime  base. 

The  skill  in  cooking  consists  in  the  proper  control  of  the 
relief  valve. 

Before  the  introduction  of  these  cooking  charts,  all  this 
was  left  to  the  unaided  judgment  of  the  cook  with  usually 
nothing  to  help  him  but  a  small  hand  thermometer  and  a 
pressure  gauge.  Of  course,  great  variation  in  the  pulp  was  the 
result.  The  cooking  charts,  plotted  by  the  cooks  themselves, 
however,  helped  greatly  as  they  enabled  the  quick  visualization 
of  the  work. 

Immediately  after  the  introduction  of  these  charts  a  very 
marked  increase  in  the  uniformity  of  the  pulp  was  noticed,  and 
the  cooks,  while  at  first  opposed  to  the  new  method  of  "cooking 
with  a  lead  pencil"  as  they  called  it,  soon  learned  to  like  their 
work  much  better  for  the  reason  that  they  now  had  some  way 
of  visualizing  the  work  in  its  entirety.  In  addition  to  more 
uniform  quality  of  the  pulp,  the  yield  from  a  cord  of  wood 
increased  something  over  five  per  cent. 

We  soon  found  that  it  was  necessary  to  give  some  sort  of 
continuous-progress  record  if  we  were  to  keep  up  the  interest 
in  the  work,  because  no  man  could  carry  in  his  mind  anything 
but  a  general  impression  of  his  progress  from  day  to  day. 
Progress  records  measure  the  man's  increasing  mastery  of  his 
work,  and  we  feel  that  it  is  one  of  the  moral  obligations  of  the 
management  to  keep  such  records  for  the  individual  workman. 
Without  these  records  men  will  not  think  of  improvements  in 
the  process  and  they  cannot  be  blamed  for  becoming  indifferent. 
How  long,  for  instance,  would  a  superintendent  or  manager 
retain  his  interest  in  the  economical  operation  of  his  plant  if 
his  cost  sheets  were  withheld?  We,  as  executives,  must  have 
quantity,  quality  and  economy  records,  otherwise  our  interest 
soon  lags.  Why,  then,  should  we  expect  the  workman  to  be 
interested  when  he  is  not  furnished  with  a  record  which  at 
least  reflects  one  of  these  elements?  .  .  . 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  191 

We  keep  a  continuous-progress  record  of  the  work  which 
is  mainly  one  of  quality.  Most  of  our  records  refer  to  the 
quality  of  the  work  performed;  in  other  words,  the  nearness 
to  which  the  workman  approaches  the  ideal  standards  which  he 
has  helped  to  form.  The  democratic  cooperative  forming  of 
these  standards  by  the  joint  work  of  the  trained  technician  and 
the  practical  workman  is  absolutely  essential,  otherwise  con- 
tinuous progress  will  not  be  made.  The  whole  plan  must  be 
really  educational  in  nature  and  to  be  so  the  records  must 
record  the  natural  laws  of  the  process  and  the  individual's 
degree  of  control  of  forces  in  the  material  elements  that  he  is 
using.  The  more  factors  that  can  be  recorded,  the  greater  the 
interest  in  the  work.  The  reason  for  this  is  obvious.  .  . 

It  is  obviously  a  difficult  matter  when  dealing  with  mainte- 
nance and  construction  work  to  give  quality  or  quantity  records 
as  the  work  varies  so  much  from  day  to  day,  so  the  only  kind 
of  records  we  could  give  the  men  were  records  of  cost.  The 
original  suggestion  to  give  these  records  grew  out  of  the  fact 
that  we  give  to  each  operating  department  head  a  complete 
cost  of  operating  his  department  for  which  he  was  held 
responsible. 

As  soon  as  he  began  to  realize  this  responsibility,  because  all 
the  repair  materials  were  charged  to  him,  he  at  once  began  to 
make  intelligent  criticism  of  the  engineering  department,  and 
especially  was  he  critical  of  the  maintenance  foreman  as  he  was 
wasteful  in  the  use  of  materials.  As  a  result  of  this,  the  main- 
tenance foremen  asked  the  master  mechanic  if  they  could  not 
have  job  costs  showing  how  economically  they  were  doing  their 
work  as  they  had  no  idea  of  the  value  of  materials  that  they 
were  using.  .  . 

In  none  of  this  work  did  we  pay  bonuses  to  a  superintendent, 
department  head  or  workman;  our  salaries  and  wages  were 
high,  but  payments  were  all  on  a  monthly,  weekly,  or  hourly 
basis.  The  increased  effort,  therefore,  came  entirely  from  a  de- 
sire within  the  individual  to  be  productive.  This  sort  of  creative 
effort  produced  great  changes  in  operating  conditions;  we  in- 
creased our  yearly  production  from  forty-two  thousand  tons  to 
one  hundred  eleven  thousand  tons  without  adding  to  the  number 
of  digesters  for  cooking  the  pulp,  or  wet  machines  for  handling 
the  finished  product  and  we  changed  our  quality  from  the 
poorest  to  the  very  best. 


IQ2  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

Due  to  the  intelligent  suggestion  which  came  from  our  men 
all  over  the  plant  we  were  able  to  make  very  radical  changes 
in  the  manufacturing  processes.  Entirely  new  methods  of  pre- 
paring our  wood,  making  acid,  bleaching,  etc.,  were  created,  all 
of  which  we  paid  for  out  of  the  earnings. 

I  maintain  that  this  was  all  the  result  of  the  freedom  our  men 
were  experiencing  because  they  were  working  in  an  environment 
which  stimulated  thinking.  They  had  ample  opportunity  con- 
stantly to  increase  their  knowledge  of  the  underlying  natural 
laws  of  the  process,  and  were,  therefore,  able  to  realize  the  joy 
which  comes  from  a  conscious  mastery  of  their  part  of  the 
process. 

This  freedom  to  express  one's  individuality  in  constructive 
work  according  to  law,  is  the  only  real  freedom,  for  freedom 
unrestrained  by  a  consciousness  of  the  universality  of  natural 
law  leads  to  anarchy. 

We  should  never  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  degree  of 
conscious  self-expression  which  the  workman  can  attain  is  in 
direct  proportion  to  the  ability  of  the  organization  to  measure, 
for  his  benefit,  the  impress  of  his  personality  upon  it.  The  most 
democratic  industrial  plant,  therefore,  is  the  one  which  permits 
the  fullest  possible  amount  of  individual  freedom  to  each  mem- 
ber, irrespective  of  his  position  and  at  the  same  time  is  so  sensi- 
tively adjusted  that  it  reflects  immediately  the  effects  of  his  ac- 
tions. If  his  actions  result  in  injury  to  others  he  will  see  that 
as  a  part  of  the  whole  he,  himself,  must  also  suffer. 

Man  is  not  an  animal,  but  a  free  self-determining  mental 
center  of  consciousness  whose  reason  for  existence  is  that  the 
universal  life  can  deal  with  a  particular  situation  in  time  and 
space,  and,  by  this  means,  be  enabled  to  evolve  a  material  uni- 
verse organized  to  express  the  one  great  individual  life  of  which 
~we  are  all  a  part. 

In  conclusion  let  me  say  that  I  am  well  aware  that  to  some 
of  you  this  may  seem  like  pure  philosophical  speculation  far 
removed  from  the  practical  affairs  of  every  day  life.  I  have 
said  nothing,  however,  that  I  cannot  back  up  by  any  number  of 
additional  illustrations  and  my  hope  is  that  the  examples  given 
will  stimulate  others  to  make  similar  investigations,  so  that  we 
can  fulfil  our  mission  in  this  country  by  evolving  an  industrial 
philosophy  which  will  have  for  its  ultimate  aim  the  continuous 
unfoldment  of  the  latent  powers  in  man. 


X.  PSYCHOLOGICAL  ASPECTS  OF 
LABOR  TURNOVER 

THE  BROAD  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  TURN- 
OVER PROBLEM  1 

This  excessive  shifting  from  position  to  position  clearly 
demonstrates  that  something  is  wrong  with  industry.  In 
diagnosing  its  causes  we  are  at  the  same  time  enabled  to  suggest 
certain  remedies  that  may  lessen  it. 

Some  of  the  more  prominent  causes  are: 

1.  Poor  methods  of   employment  and  discharge.     Men  are 
generally  hired  en  masse,  with  little  regard  to  their  qualifica- 
tions, and  fired  summarily  if  they  do  not  make  good  on  the  jobs 
upon  which  they  are  tried  out.     The  power  of  employment  and 
discharge  is  generally  vested  in  the  foreman  of  each  department. 
These  men  are  rarely  skilled  in  the  tactful  handling  and  judging 
of  men. 

2.  Poor  methods  of   promotion  within  the  factory.     Work 
in  one  position  rarely  leads  to  a  higher  position.    The  workman 
in  any  particular  plant  relies,  therefore,  upon  a  change  to  some 
other  plant  to  better  his  status. 

3.  The  seasonal  nature  of  many  industries.    The  turnover  is 
necessarily  large  where  the  volume  of  output  is  not  evenly  dis- 
tributed over  the  year.    After  the  "peak"  has  been  passed,  many 
workmen  must  be  laid  off.     If  the  peak  reoccurs  within  a  few 
months,   a   new   force   must  be   employed.     Positions   of   short 
duration,    spelling    a    high    turnover,    are    the    inevitable    con- 
comitants of  seasonal  industry. 

4.  Juvenile  labor.    Children  rarely  stay  long  in  one  position. 
The  fourteen-  to  sixteen-year-old  child  is  restless  and  wants  to 
move  about.    A  regular,  settled  employment  rarely  satisfies  him. 

5.  The  monotony  of  modern  factory  labor.     This  is  rarely 
mentioned  as  a  cause  of  labor  turnover,  but  on  a  priori  grounds 

1  Paul    Douglas.      The    Problem    of    Labor    Turnover.      American    Eco- 
nomic Review.     Vol.  8.     1918.    p.   306-16;   Vol.  9.   1919.  p.  402-5. 


194  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

we  must  infer  that  it  exercises  tremendous  influence.  Special- 
ization and  routine  labor  have  rendered  industry  so  dull  that  it 
is  no  wonder  the  modern  artisan  frequently  throws  up  his  job 
and  seeks  another  plant  from  sheer  weariness. 

6.  Low  wages.  A  plant  that  pays  low  wages  cannot  hold 
men  long.  They  regard  the  job  as  a  makeshift  and  will  leave 
it  as  soon  as  they  can  find  another. 

Thus  some  of  the  causes  of  this  newly  discovered  phe- 
nomenon are  long-recognized  evils,  while  some  have  been  but 
newly  brought  to  light.  The  remedy  most  frequently  proposed 
by  students  of  the  situation  is  the  installation  of  a  specialized 
employment  department  to  have  complete  charge  of  the  hiring, 
handling,  and  firing  of  men.  In  most  factories  the  task  of  em- 
ployment and  the  discharge  of  men  is  confided  to  the  foremen 
of  the  various  departments.  Hands  are  both  hired  and  fired  in 
a  hit-or-miss  fashion.  Many  firms  keep  no  employment  records 
at  all,  and  most  of  those  that  do  keep  such  records  have  only 
scanty  material.  They  seldom  ask  the  reasons  for  the  work- 
man's leaving,  nor  do  they  measure  the  turnover,  department  by 
department.  The  centralization  of  employment  and  discharge 
and  the  concentration  of  responsibility  would  permit  the  use  of 
scientific  methods. 

Such  a  department  could  lessen  the  turnover  in  the  following 
ways : 

i.  By  the  use  of  a  better  method  of  selecting  employees. 
Physical  tests  would  eliminate  a  considerable  number  that  are 
now  employed  only  to  be  shortly  discharged.  Though  mental 
tests  have  not  developed  as  yet  so  far  as  to  make  it  possible  to 
assign  men  to  the  particular  jobs  for  which  they  are  best 
adapted,  at  least  those  mentally  incompetent  for  industry  could 
be  eliminated.  The  various  jobs  in  the  plant  could,  moreover, 
be  analyzed  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  skill  and  intelligence  re- 
quired of  the  operative.  The  workers  could  then  be  divided 
into  rough  groups  according  to  their  previous  training  and  in- 
nate mental  ability  and  assigned  to  the  corresponding  grade  of 
work.  A  centralized  personnel  department  could  follow  up  and 
verify  work  references  and  thereby  classify  workers  on  the 
basis  of  past  experience.  And  it  could  maintain  a  waiting  list, 
so  that  when  new  men  were  needed  they  could  be  chosen  largely 
from  men  about  whom  something  was  known  instead  of,  as  now, 
picked  up  off  the  streets. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  195 

2.  By  a  system  of  follow-up  work  for  the  new  employees: 
This  would  include  taking  them  to  their  place  of  work  and  in- 
dicating a  friendly  interest  toward  them.     The  training  should 
be  given  preferably  by  special  instructors  and  not  confided  to 
the  foremen.    In  many  cases  it  is  best  to  give  the  new  men  pre- 
liminary training  before  they  are  actually  placed  in  any  depart- 
ment.     Moreover,    the    working    conditions    should    be    closely 
watched  by  the  personnel  department  in  order  to  insure  proper 
ventilation,  lighting,  the  prevention  of  dust,  and  the  lessening 
of  fire  and  accident  risks.    To  keep  a  record  of  absences,  classi- 
fied by  individuals  and  by  causes,  would  also  be  a  legitimate  task 
for  such  a  department. 

3.  By  an  investigation  of  the  reasons  for  the  successes  and 
failures  of  individual  workmen.     The  method   commonly  em- 
ployed is  to  discharge  a  workman  if  he  fails  to  make  good  on  a 
particular  job.     This  involves  a  great  waste.    A  workman  may 
fail  on  a  specific  job  and  yet  be  a  valuable  man  for  the  concern. 
It  may  be  that  the  antagonistic  attitude  of  the  foreman  or  the 
men  is  such  that  he  cannot  do  himself  justice.    It  may  be  that 
he  is  ill-adapted  to  that  particular  position  but  would  be  per- 
fectly competent  in  a  position  in  some  other  department.     The 
worker  embodies  a  considerable  investment  of  capital  by  the  em- 
ployer and  is  worthy  of  at  least  another  trial  before  he  is  dis- 
charged.   The  personnel  department  can  find  out  the  reasons  for 
his  lack  of  success  and  act  accordingly. 

Should  the  worker  succeed  in  a  given  position  he  should  be 
commended  and  assured  promotion.  A  well-defined  promotion 
policy  would  indeed  save  many  a  plant  a  great  deal  of  dissatis- 
faction and  lessened  efficiency.  The  efficiency  of  the  plant  and 
the  loyalty  of  the  workers  may  be  further  heightened  by  the  in- 
stitution of  discussion  groups  at  which  plant  problems  can  be 
explained  and  workmen's  ideas  solicited.  This  will  also  serve 
to  bring  to  light  hidden  talent  which  could  be  utilized  in  execu- 
tive work. 

The  creation  of  such  a  personnel  department,  charged  with 
these  functions,  is  but  the  logical  extension  to  the  human  side 
of  industry  of  the  scientific  principles  that  have  hitherto  been 
employed  on  the  mechanical  side.  It  merely  strips  the  depart- 
ment foreman  of  his  employment  functions  and  enables  him  to 
concentrate  his  attention  upon  the  actual  production  of  goods. 
With  this  splitting  of  the  task  greater  specialization  and  effi- 


196  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

ciency  can  result.  The  centralized  employment  department  has 
been  tried  in  many  plants  and,  on  the  whole,  has  been  very 
successful.  Some  illustrations  of  its  success  are  (i)  the  reduc- 
tion by  the  Dennison  Manufacturing  Company  of  its  turnover 
from  68  per  cent  to  37  per  cent  a  year;  (2)  the  reduction  of  the 
turnover  of  the  Joseph  and  Feiss  Company  of  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
to  one  third  its  former  amount;  (3)  the  lowering  of  the  Plimp- 
ton Press  turnover  till  it  is  now  only  10  per  cent  a  year;  (4)  the 
decrease  in  the  Ford  turnover  from  416  per  cent  to  less  than  80 
per  cent.  Other  factors  besides  that  of  the  creation  of  such  a 
department  contribute  to  the  marked  decrease  in  three  of  these 
plants.  Forms  of  profit-sharing  were  introduced  into  the  Den- 
nison and  Ford  companies,  while  the  Dennison  and  Feiss  plants 
also  succeeded  in  regularizing  their  output.  .  . 

The  large  turnover  of  children  between  fourteen  and  sixteen 
is  merely  another  proof  of  the  economic  and  social  wastefulness 
of  this  class  of  labor.  Industry  and  society  would  be  much 
better  off  were  the  age  of  entrance  into  industry  raised  generally 
from  fourteen  to  sixteen  years.  In  so  far  as  the  labor  turnover 
is  due  to  the  monotony  of  machine  labor,  few  remedies  within 
the  plant  can  be  devised.  The  men,  to  be  sure,  can  be  trans- 
ferred from  one  machine  to  another.  But  this  is  about  all.  The 
balking  of  man's  innate  tendency  toward  contrivance  seems 
to  be  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the  machine  era.  New 
avenues  must  be  opened,  outside  of  industry,  for  its  legitimate 
expression. 

Whatever  may  be  the  final  steps  taken  to  solve  this  problem, 
its  recognition  signalizes  a  marked  advance  in  the  development 
of  human  engineering. 


INDUSTRIAL  ABUSES  UNDERLYING 
TURNOVER * 

The  essential  fact,  with  respect  to  labor  turnover,  is  that 
fully  half  of  our  labor  passes  through  our  industries  rather  than 
into ,  them.  Employers  clamor  for  more  men  while  they  let 
those  they  have  slip  through  their  fingers.  Workers  complain 
of  lack  of  work,  though  yesterday  they  made  no  effort  to  hold 

1  Don  D.  Lescohier.  The  Labor  Market,  p.  113-16,  118-21.  Published 
by  The  Macmillan  Company.  New  York.  1919.  Reprinted  by  permission. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  197 

their  jobs  they  had.  "Suddenly  it  is  found  that  one  of  the 
greatest  costs  of  labor  is  not  the  inefficiency  of  the  individual 
but  the  lack  of  good-will  as  a  whole.  A  certain  proportion  of 
our  employers  have  inaugurated  definite  labor  policies  calculated 
to  hold  a  steady  labor  force  for  their  businesses  and  have  achieved 
a  success  that  has  surprised  themselves.  Half  of  our  workers, 
more  or  less,  have  fitted  themselves  into  some  industry  and  be- 
come a  part  of  its  permanent  labor  force.  Why  does  a  pro- 
cession of  workers  pass  through  the  plants  of  the  rest  of  the 
employers?  Why  do  a  large  part  of  the  workers  keep  step  in 
that  procession  instead  of  becoming  a  part  of  some  specific  busi- 
ness? Dr.  Sumner  Slichter  has  given  us  a  somewhat  thorough 
analysis  of  the  causes  of  labor  turnover  in  factories.  He  dis- 
tinguishes eight  general  causes  for  the  shifting  of  labor: 
(i)  Reduction  of  the  labor  force  by  the  employer  on  account  of 
reductions  in  output  due  to  industrial  depression,  seasonal 
fluctuation  of  business,  completion  of  contracts,  and  other  de- 
creases in  his  need  for  labor.  (2)  Disagreeable  characteristics 
of  the  job,  such  as  low  wages,  irregularity  of  work,  excessive 
hours,  Sunday  work,  lack  of  opportunity  for  advancement,  or 
distance  from  the  workman's  home.  (3)  Faulty  methods  of 
handling  men.  (4)  Disagreeable  relations  with  fellow  workmen 
or  quitting  to  leave  with  a  friend.  (5)  Causes  pertaining  to  the 
worker,  such  as  wanderlust,  desire  for  a  change,  ill-health,  age, 
death,  marriage,  or  lack  of  fitness  for  work,  insubordination, 
laziness,  or  mischief  making.  (6)  Attractive  opportunities  in 
other  places  or  other  establishments.  (7)  Dislike  for  the  com- 
munity in  which  the  work  is  or  of  bad  camp  conditions,  or  de- 
sire to  go  to  a  particular  community.  And  (8)  conditions  in 
the  family  of  the  worker,  such  as  desire  to  move  to  another 
community  or  locality  for  the  sake  of  the  family,  or  sickness 
in  the  family  that  causes  quitting  of  a  certain  job.  Add  to 
these  the  competitive  recruiting  of  labor  by  employers,  the  lack 
of  an  adequate  public  employment  office  system,  and  the  migra- 
tory habits  engendered  in  the  American  people  by  the  industrial 
allurements  which  appear  now  here,  now  there,  in  a  developing 
country,  and  we  have  mentioned  the  important  causes  of  rapid 
turnover  of  labor  in  America. 

The  migratory  habits  just  referred  to  have  probably  received 
less  emphasis  in  this  connection  than  they  are  entitled  to.  Me- 
chanics, laborers,  clerks,  salesmen — all  sorts  of  workers — are 


ig8  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

continually  influenced  by  the  characteristic  American  hope  that 
there  is  a  big  opportunity  somewhere  else  for  them.  The  very 
ambition  which  is  a  spur  to  progress  in  America  is  also  a  force 
which  causes  restlessness  in  the  job  and  leads  to  failure  in 
thousands  of  cases.  The  spirit  of  the  frontier,  which  has  done 
so  much  for  our  development,  has  produced  its  unfortunate  by- 
products. Like  a  will-o'-the-wisp,  it  leads  multitudes  of  our 
people  from  job  to  job  and  place  to  place  until  many  have  their 
feet  entangled  in  a  slough  of  irregular  habits  and  inefficiency. 
There  is  only  one  way  to  become  an  expert,  whether  at  washing 
dishes,  digging  ditches,  or  making  watches  or  battleships.  It  is 
by  study  and  practice.  The  man  who  changes  jobs  frequently 
and  drifts  from  industry  to  industry  never  learns  any  occupation 
thoroughly.  But  this  is  not  all.  Irregular  work  produces  its 
results.  First  the  worker  drifts,  and  then  he  can't  anchor. 

It  is  not  possible  to  estimate  the  cost  of  excessive  turnover 
of  labor  to  the  nation.  We  know  that  the  cost  is  enormous. 
The  employers'  losses  have  been  estimated  at  from  $20  to  $250 
£er  extra  man  hired;  the  exact  figure  depending  upon  the  de- 
gree of  skill  required  by  the  work,  the  extent  to  which  the  new 
man  slows  down  or  impairs  the  work  of  fellow  workmen,  and 
'the  period  of  time  which  elapses  before  the  new  worker  is  able 
to  reach  his  maximum  productivity.  It  takes  the  time  of  execu- 
tives to  interview,  hire,  and  break  in  the  new  employee;  machin- 
ery and  appliances  are  not  used  to  the  best  advantage  during 
the  learning  period ;  more  materials  are  wasted ;  plant  wear  and 
tear  is  increased;  more  accidents  occur;  there  is  loss  of  good- 
will and  business  due  to  mistakes  of  inexperienced  help ;  and  the 
esprit  de  corps  of  the  business  is  lowered  by  the  influx  of 
strangers.  When  the  turnover  is  large  it  is  not  possible  to  train 
the  new  employees  thoroughly,  and  the  average  efficiency  of  the 
whole  force  is  kept  at  a  lower  point. 

The  workers'  losses  are  equally  large.  Their  earning  power 
is  wasted  while  unemployed;  they  have  to  accept  lower  wages 
when  at  work  because  they  are  not  so  efficient  as  if  steadily 
employed;  the  skill  they  acquire  on  one  job  is  frequently  value- 
less when  they  take  up  the  next  one ;  their  character  and  working 
ability  are  deteriorated  by  frequent  idleness  and  shifting;  they 
have  greater  accident  exposure;  they  find  it  increasingly  difficult 
to  obtain  work  after  they  are  forty  years  of  age;  and  they  are 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  199 

sapped  of  ambition  when  they  are  at  work  by  the  knowledge 
that  they  will  soon  be  discharged. 

The  worker  who  is  subject  to  frequent  changes  of  employ- 
ment is  robbed  of  that  elemental  self-respect  which  is  the  dear 
possession  of  the  man  who  has  an  occupation,  however  humble, 
in  which  he  sees  himself  performing  some  useful  part  in  the 
world's  work.  The  shifter  is  industrially  homeless;  and  a  home 
— domestic,  political,  religious,  and  industrial — is  one  of  the  needs 
of  human  nature.  A  man  cannot  have  the  proper  attitude  toward 
his  work  or  his  life  who  is  constantly  made  to  feel  that  no 
industry  needs  him.  .  . 

It  must  be  recognized,  in  the  first  place,  in  any  program  of 
turnover  reduction,  that  the  shifting  of  workers  from  plant  to 
plant  is  characteristic  of  a  fraction  of  the  labor  force,  not  of 
the  entire  labor  force.  The  point  has  already  been  made  that  a 
considerable  percentage  of  the  wage  earners  work  steadily  for 
the  same  employer  or  at  least  at  the  same  occupation  and  in  the 
same  locality;  that  another  large  group  work  as  steadily  as  the 
fluctuating  labor  demand  permits,  and  that  the  high  turnover  of 
labor  is  localized  in  a  minority  of  the  total  labor  force.  The 
problem  which  confronts  us  is  to  develop  policies  that  will  check 
the  frequent  change  of  jobs  by  that  portion  of  the  labor  force 
with  whom  changing  jobs  has  become  or  is  becoming  a  habit. 

The  task,  as  already  suggested,  is  one  that  requires  coopera- 
tion between  industry,  education,  and  an  organized  labor  market. 
Industry  holds  the  key  to  success  in  its  hands.  Nothing  that 
the  educational  systems  or  an  employment  service  can  do  will 
materially  reduce  labor  turnover  if  industry  fails  whole-heartedly 
to  undertake  its  part  of  the  work.  But  American  industry  is 
not  going  to  fail.  Progressive  American  employers  have  already 
inaugurated  new  labor  policies  in  their  establishments  which  have 
materially  reduced  their  labor  turnover.  They  have  demon- 
strated what  can  be  done  by  the  employer,  and  have  contributed 
valuable  experience  on  methods.  They  have  shown  that  new 
methods  of  hiring,  training,  supervising,  transferring,  and  pro- 
moting labor  will  mitigate  or  eliminate  many  of  the  industrial 
causes  of  turnover.  They  have  discovered  that  a  closer  knowl- 
edge of  the  personal  points  of  view,  prejudices,  and  problems 
of  their  workers  enables  them  to. overcome  many  factors  per- 
sonal to  the  individual  worker  which  would  have  led  to  irreg- 
ularity of  employment. 


200  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

Industry's  objectives  must  be  the  selection  of  employees  fitted 
to  the  work  to  be  performed;  the  stabilization  of  production  to 
give  those  workers  the  greatest  possible  steadiness  of  employ- 
ment; and  the  creation  of  working  conditions  and  opportunities 
that  will  cause  the  workers  to  want  to  stay  with  the  establish- 
ment when  they  are  employed.  The  writer  ventures  to  suggest 
that  an  essential  element  of  success  in  this  endeavor  must  be 
the  creation  of  opportunities  for  self-advancement.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  keep  the  energetic  workman  in  an  establishment  if  there 
is  no  hope  of  better  wages  or  better  work  there.  Ambition  is 
one  of  the  causes  of  labor  turnover.  Not  all  workers  shift 
because  they  lack  the  steadiness  to  remain.  Many  seek  with 
a  new  employer  the  opportunities  which  their  last  employer 
neglected  to  provide.  This  is  true  of  thousands  of  workmen, 
even  common  laborers,  whom  employers  believe  are  simply 
unsteady.  Only  too  frequently  workmen  see  the  employer  go 
outside  the  establishment  for  the  man  to  fill  the  good  position 
instead  of  seeking  out  some  present  employee  for  promotion. 
It  is  not  strange  that  they  conclude  that  changing  employers 
is  the  only  road  to  advancement. 

The  relation  between  industrial  training  and  regularity  of 
employment  was  discussed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  But  the 
contribution  of  an  educational  system  to  turnover  reduction 
cannot  stop  with  industrial  training.  Many  non-industrial  and 
non-economic  motives  play  a  part  in  causing  the  unsteadiness 
of  that  group  of  workers  who  shift  most  frequently.  Their 
consumption  standards  are  often  as  deficient  as  their  industrial 
skill.  Their  sense  of  values  is  warped. 

The  writer  was  on  a  train  and  heard  a  young  soldier  say: 
"Well,  I  hope  when  I  get  home  that  I  can  get  a  good  job." 
He  asked  the  young  man,  "What  is  your  idea  of  a  good  job?" 
"Good  pay  and  easy  work,"  was  the  reply.  This  absence  of 
a  conception  of  service  and  accomplishment  as  a  necessary 
characteristic  of  a  "good  job,"  with  the  absence  of  the  desire 
to  give  an  equivalent  in  service  for  wage  received,  is  a  common 
defect  in  the  minds  of  those  workers  who  are  found  frequently 
looking  for  a  job.  The  search  for  "easy  money"  is  of  course 
no  more  common  among  wage  earners  than  among  the  people 
of  other  economic  groups.  You  can  find  among  business  and 
professional  men  a  large  number  of  individuals  who  are  con- 
tinually risking  their  money  in  speculative  investments  in  -an 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  201 

effort  to  get  rich  without  effort.  The  same  point  of  view 
appears  in  the  wage  earner  in  the  form  of  seeking  for  such 
"good  jobs"  as  the  young  man  described.  Just  as  the  speculator 
"takes  a  flyer"  at  this  or  that  investment,  so  this  type  of  wage 
earner  "takes  a  flyer"  at  this  job  and  that.  The  search  for 
income  without  effort,  for  prosperity  without  sacrifice,  for  com- 
fort without  earning  it,  is  a  subtle  cause  of  labor  shifting  that 
can  be  reached  only  by  educational  and  home  influences  that 
send  young  people  into  the  world  with  sound  ideas  and  sound 
valuations. 


REFLECTIONS  OF  A  WORKER * 

Perhaps  the  worker's  viewpoint  regarding  labor  turnover 
will  be  interesting.  I  accidentally  picked  up  a  copy  of  Industrial 
Management  and  read  an  article  concerning  labor  turnover. 
I  have  worked  around  machine  shops  for  twenty  years,  and  it 
has  got  so  of  late  years  that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  me  to 
hold  a  position  for  any  length  of  time.  Three  months  is  quite 
a  long  time  for  me  to  hold  down  one  job,  but  I  would  rather 
work  in  one  place  steadily  than  move  about. 

I  wonder  if  it  has  ever  occurred  to  the  manufacturer  whose 
foremen  have  anywhere  from  twenty-five  to  one  hundred  men 
under  them,  and  that  where  the  foreman  has  the  least  number 
of  men  working  for  him,  his  responsibilities  are  at  a  minimum, 
therefore  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the  foreman  to  hold  his  force 
down  as  much  as  possible,  as  then  he  has  less  to  look  after. 
I  have  seen  foremen  try  to  discourage  their  men  in  every 
possible  manner  so  as  to  have  less  to  do. 

What  causes  the  turnover  in  many  factories  is  the  very  poorly 
equipped  plant.  A  man  will  work  in  such  a  place  just  long 
enough  to  "get  a  stake" :  that  is,  if  he  is  a  good  mechanic  and 
has  served  his  time  as  a  machinist.  Next  in  point  of  objection 
is  the  "system."  Most  large  plants  are  over  systematized,  or 
have  misplaced  system.  If  instead  of  practicing  economics  in 
the  factory,  they  would  install  some  "system"  in  the  upkeep  of 
the  equipment  the  turnover  would  decrease  to  a  certain  extent. 
Then  the  plant  that  does  not  work  its  employees  in  excess  of 

1  A  Worker's  Viewpoint  of  Labor  Turnover.  By  a  Laborer.  Industrial 
Management.  April,  1919.  p.  36. 


202  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

forty-eight  to  forty-nine  hours  per  week  has  the  best  chance  of 
holding  them.  Again  a  manufacturer  thinks  he  is  always  "top 
dog"  and  is  apt  to  impose  upon  his  workers  rules  and  regulations 
that  are  entirely  unnecessary. 

Just  because  a  man  has  money  tied  up  in  manufacturing 
institutions  is  no  reason  why  he  should  get  excessive  profits 
out  of  these  plants  at  the  expense  of  his  workers,  so  that  he 
may  lavish  these  profits  upon  fast  women,  or  mere  society 
women,  or  spend  most  of  his  time  globe  trotting  at  the  expense 
of  the  workers. 


HOLDING  THE  MEN  WHO  HAVE  NO  TRADE 1 

To  understand  the  unskilled  worker  one  must  be  very  careful 
to  put  himself  in  the  worker's  place,  and  delving  deeper  and 
understanding  more,  must  master  the  hard  task  of  finding  out 
what  the  man  himself  feels  and  thinks. 

When  a  man  does  this  successfully  one  of  the  things  he  will 
discover  is  that  the  coming  and  going  of  the  casual  worker 
which  seems  to  him  so  foolish  and  reckless  is  not  always  entirely 
without  reason.  The  tasks  which  many  of  these  men  are  called 
upon  to  do  are  not  only  disagreeable,  but  to  a  degree  unhealthy. 
There  is  dust  or  lint  or  steam  or  dampness  or  undue  dryness. 
There  may  be  drafts  or  extremes  of  heat  and  cold.  These  men 
do  not  know  how  to  take  the  best  care  of  themselves  and  would 
not  take  the  pains  to  do  so  if  they  knew.  Often  when  they  go 
on  the  job  they  are  not  in  the  best  of  health,  because  of  past 
sicknesses  or  indiscretions.  Especially  is  this  true  today  when 
we  have  no  constantly  renewed  stream  of  j'oung,  sturdy  unim- 
paired immigrants  to  draw  from. 

Many  a  casual  worker,  after  a  little  while  on  the  job,  finds 
that  his  physical  condition  is  poor,  he  gets  out  of  sorts  or  feels 
sick,  and  thinks  that  a  change  will  do  him  good.  Frequently 
the  physician  to  whom  he  goes  tells  him  that  his  work  is 
disagreeing  with  him  and  that  he  must  make  a  change.  There 
is  a  wealth  of  pathos  in  the  fact  that  so  many  men  leave  because 
the  conditions  of  the  job  have  made  them  unequal  to  it. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  men  over  forty  years  of  age.  The 

1  Harry  W.  Kimball.  Handling  the  Men  Who  Have  No  Trade.  In 
dustrial  Management.  June,  1920.  p.  509-10. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  203 

vicissitudes  of  their  restless  years  of  toil  and  often  dissipation 
have  left  a  heritage  of  weakness  which  inevitably  shows  itself 
after  a  little  time  of  strenuous  work.  Many  of  these  men  who 
quit,  and  are  accused  of  laziness  and  a  disinclination  to  work, 
have  simply  used  up  whatever  resources  of  strength  they 
had  and  must  loaf  for  a  while.  They  are  really  all  in  physically. 
It  is  not  in  them  to  work.  While  the  destructive  forces  of 
strong  drink  are  no  longer  a  factor,  sexual  excess  still  exists, 
and  so  also  does  the  bad  air  of  the  tenements  in  which  they 
live  or  of  the  boarding  houses  in  which  they  bunk.  Often 
sufficient  sleep  is  not  obtained.  Although  one  might  not  suspect 
it  to  look,  at  the  casual  worker  who  says  he  is  through,  yet  it 
is  often  for  good  reasons  of  physical  disability,  for  a  lack  of 
physical  stamina,  that  he  has  thrown  up  his  job. 

Another  factor  in  the  constant  shifting  of  these  workers  is 
that  often,  although  their  work  may  be  very  simple,  yet  it  is 
never  carefully  explained  to  them  just  what  they  are  to  do.  The 
result  is  that  they  do  the  work  indifferently  or  poorly  and  on 
account  of  this  are  called  down  by  the  foreman,  probably  quite 
a  number  of  times.  Then  it  fixes  itself  in  the  worker's  mind 
that  he  is  not  doing  satisfactory  work.  In  a  dim  sort  of  way 
he  knows  that  he  is  just  getting  by  on  the  job,  and  barely  that. 
Then  from  his  past  experiences  he  concludes  that  in  a  few 
days  at  the  most  he  will  be  fired,  and  to  avoid  that  he  simply 
quits  of  his  own  accord.  The  next  morning  he  does  not  show 
up.  A  little  kindly  interest  on  the  part  of  the  foreman  or  the 
employment  manager,  a  little  more  careful  instruction  regarding 
his  work  might  have  kept  him  for  many  a  day. 

But  in  spite  of  the  most  careful  selection  and  instruction 
a  large  proportion  of  these  men  without  a  trade  will  be  floaters. 
The  constant  temptation  is  to  hire  these  habitual  drifters  without 
much  thought,  these  men  who  have  not  come  to  stay,  because 
they  can  do  as  well  as  anyone  the  rough  manual  labor  which  at 
the  moment  needs  to  be  done.  If  there  are  carloads  of  coal 
to  be  unloaded,  just  get  anyone  that  is  to  be  found  to  help.  It 
matters  not  that  in  two  or  three  days  or  a  week  he  may  dis- 
appear. At  least  you  have  obtained  that  much  work  from  him. 
The  cost  of  such  labor  turnover  while  considerable  cannot 
by  any  fair  estimate  be  figured  in  the  large  amounts  which  are 
usually  assigned  to  the  cost  of  hiring  and  firing  skilled  workers. 

It  is  beginning,  however,  to  be  recognized  that  the  retention 


204  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

of  these  unskilled  workers  has  its  real  value,  that  if  they 
become  happy  and  contented  and  are  made  to  feel  that  they  are 
a  part  of  the  organization  they  will  contribute  something  to  the 
esprit  decorps  of  the  plant.  When  they  stay  long  enough  to 
grow  accustomed  to  the  ways  of  doing  things,  to  become 
familiar  with  the  layout  of  the  plant,  to  take  advantage  of  the 
benefits  offered,  like  the  infirmary,  group  life  insurance,  mutual 
life  insurance,  mutual  benefit  association  and  lunch  room,  they 
are  much  more  valuable  than  the  casual  worker  who  may  only 
stay  for  a  day  or  two.  Therefore  it  is  certainly  worth  while 
to  make  an  effort  to  stabilize  that  portion  of  the  working  force 
which  has  no  trade. 


HOW  TO  REDUCE  LABOR  TURNOVER  * 

(An  outline  of  the  essential  part  of  the  scheme  pictured  by 
the  author.  .  .  Note  that  this  scheme  is  intended  to  be  complete 
and  is  therefore  impossible  of  universal  application  in  toto.) 

1.  Preliminary  Measures: 

a.  Attempt  to  learn  the  true  cost  of  turnover  in  your 
plant  in  order  to  know  how  much  you  can  afford  to 
spend  to  eliminate  it. 

b.  Keep    adequate    records    as    means    of    analysis    of 
sources  and  causes  of  turnover. 

(1)  Historical    and   statistical    record   separate    for 
each  employee  including  date  of  employing  or 

transferring,  rates,  earnings,  bonuses,  defective 
work,  complaints  by  or  against  man,  absence, 
tardiness,  periodic  certification  of  foremen,  date 
of  quitting  and  reasons. 

(2)  Turnover  by  departments,  by  causes,  by  weeks 
and  months  and  years,  and  by  classes  of  skills. 

(3)  High  and  low  earnings  by  departments. 

(4)  Defective  work  by  departments. 

(5)  Absenteeism  and  tardiness  by  departments. 

2.  Fundamental  Remedies: 

a.     Hire  the  right  men  for  the  jobs. 

1  Boyd  Fisher.  How  to  Reduce  Labor  Turnover.  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy.  May,  1917.  P«  10-32. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  205 

(1)  Work    up   good   application    lists   which    is    a 
"prospect  file"  by  vigilant  search  of  sources  of 
supply,  by  industrial  census  of  your  vicinity,  by 
courteous   and   hospitable   treatment    of    appli- 
cants at  all  times,  and  by  getting  a  good  name 
for  your  factory  even  from  men  who  have  quit 
you. 

(2)  Using  your  present  work  force  as  a  "prospect 
file"  cooperate  with  agencies  for  industrial  edu- 
cation, supplementing  them  with  apprenticeship 
training,  to  build  up  a  system  of  promotion  and 
transfer. 

(3)  Secure   time  to  examine  new  applicants  thor- 
oughly by  receiving  advance  notice  of  need  and 
by    using    adequate    assistance    in    employment 
department. 

(4)  Hire  in  accordance  with   written   specifications 
for  each  job,  prepared  at  leisure,  and  after  due 
consultation  and  criticism. 

(5)  Prepare  a  definite  scheme  of  direct  examination 
for  each  type  of  work,  using  as  much  of  the 
character  reading  methods  as  your  experience 
approves. 

(6)  Examine  physically  with  view  both  to  general 
fitness,  to  suitability  for  specified  job,   and  to 
need  of  later  up-building. 

(7)  Visit  homes  of  desired  applicants. 

(8)  Check  up  records  of  previous  employments. 

(9)  Hire  only  those  who  can  earn  an  adequate  wage, 
b.     Pay  an  adequate  wage. 

(1)  Study  cost  of  and  facilities   for  decent  living 
for   each  workman  and  use  results  in  setting 
base  rates. 

(2)  Give  special  study  to  cases  of  inefficient  work- 
men,  to    see    if    money   troubles    are   affecting 
them. 

(3)  Centralize   and   pay   off   at   discount,   debts   of 
overburdened  workmen. 

(4)  Promote  mutual  aid  association. 

(5)  Establish  legal  aid  bureau. 

(6)  Pay  weekly. 


206  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

(7)  Discourage  alcoholism. 

(8)  Instruct  in  proper  use  of  income. 

(9)  Encourage  thrift  and  home-building. 

(10)  Where  special  causes  for  increased  living  cost 
obtain,   attack  them,  as  by  cooperative   stores, 
housing  measures,  etc. 

c.     Provide  steady  work. 

(1)  Give  piece  workers  steady  flow  of  material  dur- 
ing the  day,  by  proper  scheduling  system. 

(2)  Regularize  production   throughout  the  year  to 
minimize  lay-offs  and  shut-downs. 

(3)  Abolish  the  annual  physical  inventory  with  con- 
tinuous checks. 

(4)  Make  repairs  promptly  and  provide  a  sufficient 
reserve  supply  of  tools. 

d.     Don't  fire  hastily. 

1 i )  Check    up    foremen    whose    departments    show 
high  turnover  records  through  men's  quitting. 

(2)  Don't  let  foremen  discharge  at  all. 

(3)  Give    unsatisfactory   men   at   least   one    chance 
through  transfer. 

(4)  Establish     employment     committee     to     review 
cases  of  discharge  where  men  appeal. 

(5)  Establish  foremen's  club  to  study  ways  of  get- 
ting along  with  men. 

(6)  Interview,    before    paying    off,    men    who    quit 
voluntarily. 

3.     Supplementary  Remedies : 
a.     Start  new  men  right. 

(1)  Make  clearly  understood  agreement  as  to  start- 
ing pay  and  schedule  of  advances. 

(2)  Introduce  new  men  to  bosses,  to  fellow-workers, 
and  to  physical  surroundings,  and  acquaint  with 
rules  and  facilities  of  plant. 

(3)  Instruct  men  thoroughly  in  new  task. 

(4)  Advance   money  or   meal   tickets   to   beginners 
short  of  funds. 

(5)  Help  beginners  speedily  to  get  on  piece  or  bonus 
rates. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  207 

b.  Promote  physical  efficiency. 

(1)  Establish  physical  department. 

(2)  Examine  all  workmen  periodically  and  provide 
machinery  for  following  up  those  found  to  be 
defective. 

(3)  Provide  adequate  light,  heat  and  ventilation. 

(4)  Reduce    noise,    dirt    and    noxious    odors    and 
fumes. 

(5)  Purify  oils,   waste   and   other   supplies. 

(6)  Purify  drinking  water. 

(7)  Provide     sanitary     lockers,     wash     rooms    and 
toilets. 

(8)  Insist  upon  good  teeth  and  good  eyes  by  using, 
at  least  on  part  time,  the  services  of  a  dentist 
and  an  occulist. 

(9)  Have  nurses  or  doctors  visit  those  kept  home 
by  illness. 

(10)  Provide  mid-workday  meals  at  plant. 

(n)   Provide    good    tools    and    fatigue    minimizing 
equipment. 

(12)  Shorten    work-hours   while    securing    fair    out- 
put. 

(13)  Provide  at  least  three  rest  periods  during  the 
day. 

(14)  Arrange  for  yearly  vacations  with  pay  for  all 
employees.     This  can  be  on  the  basis  of  an  effi- 
ciency record  or  punctuality  record. 

(15)  Promote  athletics. 

c.  Foster  good  habits. 

(1)  Investigate  causes  of  unexcused   absence. 

(2)  Fix    strict    penalties     for    tardiness    and    un- 
excused absence. 

(3)  Bonus  regular  attendance. 

(4)  Establish  pay  system  that  encourages   and  re- 
wards accuracy,  high  output  and  punctuality. 

d.  Give  all  employees  a  hearing. 

(1)  Hear  complaints  at  all  times,  no  matter  how  put 
forward. 

(2)  Hold    regular    shop    meetings    by    departments 
and  by  divisions  to  hear  men's  ideas. 


208  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

(3)  Establish  system   for  considering  written  sug- 
gestions from  men;  and  rewarding  with  com- 
mendation,   prizes,    or    promotion,    all    thought 
worthy,  and  acknowledge  all  such  suggestions 
without  exception. 

(4)  Encourage  all  forms  of  self-directed  organiza- 
tion, whether  of  athletic,  social,  or  cooperative 
enterprises — provided  such  organization  is  not 
subject  to  orders  from  persons  outside  of  your 

plant  and  contrary  to  its  interests. 

e.  Make  work  in  your  plant  a  sufficient  career. 

(1)  Establish  system  for  granting  unasked-for  pay 
increases  as  deserved. 

(2)  Discover  ambitions  of  men  for  future  transfers 
and  promotions. 

(3)  Help  train  men  to  new  tasks. 

(4)  Transfer  with  some  liberality. 

(5)  Encourage  men  to   improve  general   education 
by  reimbursing  for  outlay  on  courses  of  study 
as  completed. 

f.  Provide  for  future  of  all  workmen. 

(1)  Purchase  group  insurance  for  all  workmen. 

(2)  Pension   disabled   or   superannuated   employees. 

(3)  Share  profits  on   some   form  of   stock-sharing 
basis,  possibly  in  lieu  of  pension  scheme. 

4.     Provocative  Remedies: 

a.  Fire  when  other  methods  clearly  fail. 

(1)  Those  with  chronic  social  diseases. 

(2)  Those  whose  morals  menace  the  high  standards 
of  fellow  employees. 

(3)  Those  who  persist  in  agitation. 

(4)  Those  who  will  not  quit  drinking. 

b.  Submit  all  such  discharges  to  appeal  committee  on 
which  employees  are  represented. 


XL  THE  BUILDING  OF  LOYALTY 
AND  MORALE 

A  BROAD  SURVEY  OF  PSYCHOLOGICAL 
CAUSES  1 

Tho  industrial  morale  is  closely  related  to  the  state  of 
contentment  or  unrest  of  the  working  force,  the  two  are  not  to 
be  confused.  Industrial  morale  refers  to  the  degree  of  coopera- 
tion extended  by  the  employees  of  an  enterprise  to  the  manage- 
ment in  the  course  of  their  work,  the  interest  they  manifest  in 
their  work,  and  in  the  enterprise  by  which  they  are  employed, 
and  their  willingness  to  assume  a  share  of  the  responsibility 
so  that  their  work  is  properly  and  expeditiously  done.  The 
test  of  industrial  morale  is  the  degree  of  cooperation  extended 
by  the  men  to  the  management  in  the  operation  of  the  plant.  .  . 

Of  the  numerous  causes  which  combine  to  create  low  indus- 
trial morale  several  of  great  importance  may  be  passed  over 
with  little  or  no  discussion.  Fatigue,  ill  health,  and  nervous 
strain  are  well  known  to  cause  low  morale  but  analysis  of  the 
extent  to  which  modern  industrial  conditions  and  processes  pro- 
duce these  physical  and  nervous  causes  must  be  left  to  the  phys- 
iologist and  the  psychologist.  No  explanation  is  needed  of  the 
effect  upon  morale  of  the  belief,  widespread  among  workmen 
and  far  from  wholly  unjustified,  that  if  they  work  too  hard 
they  will  work  themselves  out  of  their  jobs.  Dissatisfaction  of 
the  workers  with  their  treatment  by  the  management  is  to  be 
counted  among  the  most  important  causes  of  low  morale,  for  it 
is  common  knowledge  that  men  tend  to  hold  back  and  to  do  as 
little  as  possible  for  those  against  whom  they  feel  a  grievance. 
Another  important,  tho  self-evident,  cause  of  low  morale  is  the 
widely  prevalent  belief  among  workmen  that  there  is  gross 
unfairness  in  the  distribution  of  burdens  and  benefits  in  society, 
that  the  wage  earners,  who  perform  the  heaviest,  dirtiest,  least 

1  Sumner  H.  Slichter.  Industrial  Morale.  Quarterly  Journal  of  Eco- 
nomics. Vol.  25.  November,  1920.  p.  36-60. 


210  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

interesting,  and  most  disagreeable  tasks,  receive  unreasonably 
small  shares  in  the  good  things  of  life.  Workmen  who  feel 
this  keenly  do  not  respond  readily  to  attempts  to  interest  them 
in  more  production.  They  feel  that  they  already  are  doing  more 
than  their  share  of  the  disagreeable  and  onerous  work  that  is 
to  be  done  and  incline  to  seek  compensation  for  the  unattractive- 
ness  of  their  jobs  and  the  meagerness  of  their  pay  .by  doing 
less  rather  than  more  whenever  opportunity  occurs.  Mitigating 
the  severity  or  disagreeableness  of  their  jobs  by  "taking  it  easy" 
is  the  only  means  at  their  disposal  for  partially  equalizing 
what  they  conceive  to  be  the  unjust  distribution  of  benefits  and 
burdens  and  they  use  this  means  without  compunction.  Finally, 
and  perhaps  most  important  and  self-evident  among  all  the 
causes  of  low  morale,  is  the  use  of  drive  methods  by  manage- 
ments to  sustain  and  increase  output.  A  more  effective  means 
of  creating  low  morale  could  scarcely  be  conceived,  because  the 
drive  system  renders  conflict  instead  of  cooperation  between  the 
men  and  management  inevitable.  The  drive  system  recognizes 
no  standard  day's  work.  On  the  contrary  the  aim  is  constantly 
to  force  up  the  speed  of  work.  The  men  naturally  resist  these 
efforts.  In  consequence  the  working  pace  becomes  the  subject 
of  a  constant  struggle  between  the  men  and  the  management. 
But  men  do  not  cooperate  with  those  against -whom  they  are 
struggling.  Instead  of  affording  a  basis  and  inducement  for 
cooperation,  the  drive  system  compels  the  men  to  concentrate 
their  attention  and  ingenuity  upon  limiting  output,  and  upon 
frustrating  the  efforts  of  the  managament  to  push  up  the  pace. . . 

Altho  the  prevailing  philosophy  of  business  for  profit  rather 
than  for  service  may  perhaps  be  justified  on  the  ground  that  no 
other  arrangement  provided  sufficient  incentive  to  sustain  vig- 
orous business  activity,  the  acquisitive  philosophy,  when  adopted 
by  the  workmen,  has  the  serious  drawback  that  it  is  fatal  to 
morale  and  efficiency,  because  it  justifies  workmen  in  rendering 
as  little  service  as  they  dare  give  for  as  high  pay  as  they  are 
able  to  exact.  The  adherence  to  this  philosophy  by  business 
men  renders  inevitable  its  adoption  by  the  workmen,  .  . 

Low  industrial  morale  results  from  fear  and  resentment 
inspired  among  the  workers  by  certain  managerial  policies.  Mr. 
MacKenzie  King  has  emphasized  the  importance  of  fear  as  a 
complicator  of  industrial  relations.  It  is  not  generally  appre- 
ciated, however,  to  what  extent  fear  of  the  management  by  the 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  211 

workmen  has  been  deliberately  and  consciously  fostered.  The 
steady  pursuit  of  a  policy  designed  to  arouse  fear  of  the  man- 
agement among  the  workers  was  a  natural  accompaniment  of 
the  so-called  drive  system  of  management,  the  success  of  which 
depended  upon  the  men's  willingness  to  submit  to  being  driven. 
In  order  to  create  a  docile  and  subservient  attitude  on  the  part 
of  the  men  and  cause  them  to  submit  readily  to  being  driven, 
managements  deliberately  sought  to  foster  fear  of  themselves 
among  the  men.  To  this  end  they  maintained  as  a  matter  of 
policy  a  brusque,  more  or  less  harsh,  distant  and  stern  attitude 
toward  their  men.  They  resorted  to  discharge  on  fairly  slight 
provocation.  They  discouraged  the  airing  of  grievances.  The 
man  with  a  complaint  was  told,  "If  you  don't  like  things  here, 
you  can  quit."  To  be  lenient  or  friendly  or  considerate,  to  give 
ear  to  complaints  or  to  grant  redress  would  cause  the  men  to 
feel  that  the  management  was  "easy,"  that  it  could  be  "bluffed" 
or  "worked"  and  that  it  need  not  be  feared  or  carefully  obeyed. 
It  would  destroy  the  docile,  submissive  attitude  which  was 
essential  if  the  men  were  to  yield  readily  to  drive  methods. 
Above  all,  it  was  felt  that  the  men  must  be  made  to  feel  that 
the  management  was  strong  and  powerful,  determined  to  have 
its  way  and  not  to  be  trifled  with. 

This  process  of  inspiring  fear  among  the  workmen  was 
admirably  adapted  also  to  inspiring  hatred.  In  proportion  as 
the  management  succeeded  in  arousing  fear  of  iiself  among 
the  men  it  succeeded  also  in  arousing  antagonism.  The  effect 
upon  morale  is  obvious.  .  . 

Among  the  things  which  induce  men  to  feel  responsibility 
for  the  character  of  their  work  is  the  conviction  that  the  job 
is  important,  that  it  makes  a  difference  how  it  is  done,  and  that 
in  doing  it  the  workman  is  making  himself  of  some  importance. 
Take  away  this  feeling  that  the  work  is  important  and  it  tends 
to  become  drudgery,  which  the  men  then  seek  to  lighten  by 
doing  as  little  as  possible.  Modern  industry  contains  a  number 
of  influences  which  tend  to  diminish  the  importance  of  their 
work  in  the  eyes  of  the  workmen  and  consequently  their  dispo- 
sition to  feel  a  keen  responsibility  for  the  character  of  their 
workmanship.  .  . 

Finally,  the.' policy  pursued  by  many  managements,  of 
endeavoring  to  build  up  in  the  men  the  feeling  that  they  are  of 
little  importance,  their  services  of  little  value,  and  they  them- 


212  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

selves  easily  to  be  dispensed  with  now  prevents  the  men  from 
appreciating  the  importance  of  their  work.  This  policy  is 
similar  to  the  one  previously  discussed,  of  endeavoring  to 
create  fear  of  the  management,  and,  like  it,  has  been  pursued 
as  a  part  of  the  drive  system  and  for  the  purpose  of  rendering 
the  workmen  more  submissive  to  drive  methods.  Managements 
have  believed  that  if  the  men  learned  to  regard  their  work  and 
consequently  themselves  as  important,  they  would  lose  their 
docility,  become  self-assertive  and  difficult  to  control.  To  render 
them  docile  and  easily  handled,  it  is  desirable  that  they  regard 
themselves  and  their  services  as  of  little  importance  to  the 
enterprise.  Hence  by  such  means  as  criticizing  freely  but  com- 
mending sparingly,  a  hair-trigger  readiness  to  discharge,  telling 
those  with  grievances  to  go  elsewhere  if  dissatisfied,  and  by 
the  general  attitude  maintained  toward  the  men,  managements 
have  endeavored  to  build  up  among  them  a  feeling  that  they  are 
of  little  consequence.  .  . 

Adequate  recognition  of  merit  and  good  service  is  an  im- 
portant prerequisite  to  high  industrial  morale.  Failure  of  man- 
agements to  recognize  merit  and  good  service  adequately  means 
much  more  than  a  mere  lack  of  material  rewards  to  stimulate 
the  men  to  do  their  best.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  important  as 
an  indication  of  the  attitude  and  temper  of  the  management. 
The  lack  of  material  rewards  for  merit  naturally  leads  the 
workmen  to  feel  that  the  management  does  not  appreciate  good 
service.  No  exertion  is  more  repugnant  to  workers,  however, 
than  that  which  they  believe  will  not  be  appreciated.  The 
feeling  that  good  service  is  not  appreciated  is  nearly  as  potent 
as  the  lack  of  rewards  for  good  service  in  deterring  the  men 
from  exerting  themselves  to  render  service  of  exceptional  merit. 
In  the  second  place,  failure  to  recognize  merit  is  important 
because  it  tends  to  deprive  the  men  of  definite  hopes  for 
better  things  in  the  future.  Men  can  endure  disagreeable  and 
discouraging  conditions  for  a  considerable  period  without  serious 
lowering  of  morale,  provided  they  have  reasonable  expectations 
of  better  things.  But  the  hope  of  better  things  tomorrow  is 
needed  to  take  their  minds  off  the  difficulties  of  today.  To  men 
deprived  of  reasonably  definite  expectations  for  the  future  the 
difficulties  of  today  seem  doubly  onerous.  Because  the  work 
in  modern  industry  involves  much  that  is  disagreeable  and 
onerous,  it  is  important,  in  order  to  sustain  high  morale,  that 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  213 

workmen  see  something  better  ahead.  Without  such  visions 
they  become  easily  discouraged,  disgusted  with  their  jobs,  inclined 
to  develop  the  "don't  give  a  damn"  spirit  and  to  seek  relief 
from  the  disagreeable  and  discouraging  features  of  their  work 
by  doing  no  more  than  is  necessary.  .  . 

The  development  of  the  highest  degree  of  interest  in  the  job 
and  the  keenest  sense  of  responsibility  for  the  character  of  its 
performance  presupposes  a  belief  that  the  job  or  at  least  the 
workman's  connection  with  his  employer  is  more  or  less  perma- 
nent. Hence  the  transitory  and  precarious  nature  of  much  of 
the  employment  in  modern  industry  is  to  be  accounted  a  source 
of  low  industrial  morale.  Herein  appears  the  significance,  from 
the  standpoint  of  morale,  of  the  absence  of  machinery  for  the 
adjustment  of  grievances,  and  of  the  failure  either  to  protect 
workmen  against  arbitrary  discharge  by  provision  for  truly 
judicial  inquiry  into  alleged  cases  of  incompetency  or  misconduct, 
or  to  protect  workers  against  lay-off  by  regularization  of  produc- 
tion or  by  reduction  of  the  working  period  instead  of  the  force 
in  slack  times.  .  . 

Most  important  of  all  in  creating  the  prevailing  low  state 
of  industrial  morale  is  the  workmen's  conception  of  the  rela- 
tionship prevailing  between  themselves  and  industry — the  feeling 
on  the  part  of  wage  earners  that  instead  of  industry  being 
conducted  for  their  benefit  as  well  as  for  the  benefit  of  the 
stockholders,  it  is  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  advancing  the 
interests  of  the  stockholders,  and  that  instead  of  workmen 
being  a  part  of  industry  and  insiders  in  it,  they  are  outsiders 
whom  industry  is  not  interested  in  serving,  but  from  whom  it 
is  interested  in  getting  all  that  it  can.  .  . 

An  active  effort  on  the  part  of  the  workmen  to  promote  the 
prosperity  of  industry  can  scarcely  be  expected  until  the  work- 
men feel  that  industry  is  a  friendly  rather  than  a  hostile  force; 
until  they  believe  it  is  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  their  interests 
rather  than  the  exploitation  of  their  weakness ;  until  they  believe 
it  is  interested  in  making  wages  higher  not  in  keeping  them 
low,  in  making  hours  shorter  not  in  keeping  them  long,  and  in 
mitigating  the  severity  of  the  work  not  in  enforcing  the  maximum 
speed;  until  they  believe  they  will  promptly  and  directly  share 
in  any  increase  in  the  prosperity  of  industry.  Wages  and 
conditions  of  labor  must  be  determined  by  the  same  principle 
by  which  dividends  are  determined — by  the  ability  of  industry 


2i4  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

to  pay  more  or  to  improve  conditions,  not  by  the  necessity  of 
so  doing. 

This  appears  to  touch  the  crux  of  the  problem  of  industrial 
morale.  Workmen  cannot  be  expected  to  feel  the  maximum 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  industry  and  the  greatest  willingness 
to  cooperate  in  order  to  promote  its  prosperity,  unless  they  are 
able  to  identify  themselves  with  industry,  to  feel  themselves  to 
be  a  part  of  it,  insiders  in  it,  and  to  feel  also  a  sense  of  owner- 
ship in  it.  The  feeling  of  belonging  to  a  thing  appears  commonly 
to  induce  a  feeling  of  ownership  toward  it.  They  cannot  feel 
themselves  to  be  a  part  of  industry  nor  industry  to  be  in  part 
theirs,  unless  industry  is  devoted  in  a  substantial  measure  to 
the  promotion  of  their  interests,  unless  managements  strive  just 
as  energetically  to  raise  wages  as  they  do  to  raise  dividends. 
The  thing  which  now  creates  a  gulf  between  the  men  and  indus- 
try, which  causes  them  to  feel  that  they  are  not  a  part  of  the 
enterprises  for  which  they  work  and  that  the  enterprises  are 
not  in  part  theirs,  is  the  fact  that  industrial  enterprises  are 
devoted  primarily  or  exclusively  to  the  service  of  the  stock- 
holders, often  at  the  expense  of  the  interests  of  the  men.  When 
the  men  observe  how  completely  outside  the  purposes  of  business 
enterprises  is  the  promotion  of  their  interests,  they  cannot  escape 
feeling  themselves  to  be  merely  outsiders. 


POSITIVE  ACHIEVEMENTS  POSSIBLE  UNDER 
MOST  ADVERSE  CIRCUMSTANCES  l 

By  tradition  American  lumbermen  are  thriftless — working  a 
whole  season  in  the  woods,  they  accumulate  a  little  money  only 
because  they  can  find  no  place  to  spend  it  and  that  money  is 
commonly  gone  within  about  two  days  after  they  hit  the  first 
town.  .A  happy-go-lucky  lot,  they  are  at  the  mercy  of  the  first 
employer  who  finds  them  when  broke;  the  employer,  holding 
the  money  and  the  food  bag,  always  has  the  advantage.  Where 
all  the  lumbermen  were  Americans  a  certain  comradeship 
existed  between  the  men  and  the  boss. 

But  things,  within  the  last  dozen  years,  have  changed  to  a 
great  extent,  in  the  Northwest ;  the  young  Americans  seldom  go 

1  Brigadier  General  Brice  P.  Bisque.  How  ye  Found  a  Cure  for 
Strikes.  System,  September.  1919.  P-  379-84. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  215 

into  the  woods  and  the  elder  generation  has  passed  on  to  owner- 
ship of  the  industry  or  to  other  occupations. 

In  their  place  has  come  a  large  number  of  foreigners, 
ignorant  of  American  ideals — the  same  sort  of  men  that  con- 
struction gangs  are  recruited  from. — and  when  I  went  into  the 
camps  these  foreigners  were  pretty  generally  being  run  by  agi- 
tators affiliated  with  the  I.W.W.  and  intent  upon  every  form  of 
sabotage. 

The  American  spirit  seemed  to  have  gone.  The  prospects 
for  getting  out  aircraft  lumber  looked  pretty  blue.  Employers 
and  employees  each  accused  the  other  of  being  profiteers.  The 
operators  were  a  hard-headed  lot.  Being  mostly  men  who  had 
risen  from  the  ranks,  who  had  worked  twelve  and  fourteen 
hours  a  day  in  order  to  attain  their  present  efficiency,  they  had 
never  considered  any  work  too  hard  for  themselves  and  they 
did  not  consider  any  work  too  hard  for  those  whom  they  em- 
ployed. They  had  gone  through  the  mill  and  they  expected 
others  to  go  through  it.  They  were  fighters,  every  one  of  them. 
They  fought  to  keep  up  prices  and  to  beat  down  labor.  In  order 
to  keep  up  prices  they  were  willing  to  curtail*  production  but 
when  prices  were  high  they  wanted  all  possible  production.  To 
get  that  production  they  were  willing  for  the  moment  to  pay 
almost  any  price. 

They  hired  indiscriminately  and  fired  ruthlessly.  When  they 
needed  men  they  bid  them  away  from  another  camp  but  they 
never  retained  a  man  an  hour  longer  than  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  the  work  in  hand,  aside  from  the  nucleus  or  skele- 
ton of  old,  regular  employees. 

Men  were  taken  on  from  day  to  day,  given  work  while  there 
was  work  to  do,  and  laid  off  the  moment  that  the  work  slack- 
ened. No  one  had  ever  suggested  that  there  might  be  anything 
in  the  nature  of  mutual  obligation  between  employer  and  em- 
ployee. 

The  employers  got  all  that  they  possibly  could  out  of  the 
men  at  the  lowest  possible  cost.  The  employee  gave  as  little 
work  as  possible  for  the  highest  possible  wage.  To  the  em- 
ployers the  men  were  simply  hired  to  get  the  work  through  and 
had  to  be  endured.  To  the  men  the  employers  were  monsters 
grinding  out  flesh  and  blood  at  a  very  high  profit. 

Under  such  conditions,  naturally  the  labor  became  itinerant. 
About  seventy  per  cent  did  not  care  to  work  at  all.  Regarding 


216  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

their  employers  as  natural  enemies,  they  left  disgruntled,  when- 
ever they  felt  that  they  were  particularly  needed.  They  in- 
vented the  lightning  strike.  They  "struck  on  the  job."  One  em- 
ployer testified  that  often  he  would  start  the  day  with  a  full 
crew,  and  finish  with  no  one  but  a  cook  and  a  dishwasher.  The 
labor  turnover  ran  to  one  thousand  per  cent.  The  employment 
agencies  in  Spokane  hired  eight  thousand  men  a  month  while 
only  eight  to  twelve  thousand  men  were  altogether  employed  in 
the  district! 

My  wonder  was  not  that  the  production  was  low  but  that 
there  was  any  production  at  all. 

A  thorough  investigation  convinced  me  that  practically  all  the 
difficulties  could  be  traced  to  these  fundamentals: 

1.  Intermittent,  seasonal  work. 

2.  The  persistent  rumors  that  the  employers  were  making 
enormous  profits  and  gouging  the  Government. 

3.  The  lack  of   any  means  of  reaching  understanding  be- 
tween the  parties. 

4.  Almost  indecent  living  conditions  in  the  camps. 

Through  unanimous  and  quite  voluntary  action  of  the  oper- 
ators and  employees  and  the  authority  of  the  War  Department  I 
had  a  practical  control  of  the  lumber  industry.  Stern  and 
coercive  measures  could  have  been  adopted.  But,  had  I  used 
any  of  these  instruments  of  force,  I  should  probably  have  failed. 
'The  service  which  is  given  under  compulsion  is  not  the  kind  that 
any  one  wants  and  generally  will  not  produce  real  or  lasting  re- 
sults. 

I  sold  myself  both  to  the  employers  and  the  employees.  This 
was  particularly  easy  in  view  of  the  fact  that  I  had  no  personal 
monetary  interest  in  anything  that  was  done. 

Since  there  was  to  be  plenty  of  work  until  the  war  ended,  the 
question  of  continuity  of  operation  was  not,  for  the  moment,  of 
paramount  importance.  Therefore,  I  first  devoted  myself  to 
the  equalizing  of  conditions  so  that  employers  could  not  bid  men 
away  from  other  plants. 

To  this  end  there  was  established  a  basic  eight-hour  day  and 
a  fixed  maximum  sales  price  for  lumber  and  also  a  maximum 
Wage.  I  am  not  at  all  in  favor  of  price  fixing  or  of  putting 
other  than  a  minimum  limit  on  wages,  but  war-time  conditions 
are  different  from  those  of  peace  and  I  was  dealing  with  an 
emergency  and  had  to  use  emergency  measures.  The  particular 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  217 

problem  was  to  eliminate  inducements  for  workers  to  shift 
from  one  camp  to  another.  The  worker  had  to  be  assured,  not 
only  of  a  good  wage,  but  that  he  could  not  get  a  better  wage 
by  migrating  to  the  next  logging  operation. 

The  maximum  price  of  lumber  did  not  kill  the  rumors  of  the 
excessive  profits  of  the  employers  but  it  at  least  enabled  the 
workers  to  know  the  exact  price  their  employers  were  receiving 
for  lumber.  We  then  went  a  step  further. 

Up  to  that  time  the  operators  in  the  Pacific  Northwest  had 
never  known  how  much  it  cost  them  to  cut  and  market  lumber. 
They  had  just  completed  a  system  of  uniform  accounting,  and 
when  the  results  arrived  I  suggested  to  the  employers  that  they 
take  them  up  with  committees  of  their  employees,  so  that  every 
single  fact  would  be  in  the  hands  of  the  men  they  hired.  This 
was  revolutionary.  But  finally  I  prevailed  upon  them  to  lay 
them  on  the  table.  The  employees  went  with  suspicious  care 
into  all  the  accounts.  They  saw  the  exact  relation  of  their 
wages  to  the  profits  and  they  also  calculated  how  much  of  the 
profits  the  Government  would  take  by  taxation. 

The  committees  went  back  to  their  fellows  with  exact  figures 
that  contradicted  the  preachings  of  the  I.W.W.  that  the  em- 
ployers were  getting  everything  and  the  workers  were  getting 
nothing.  And  let  me  say  right  here  in  all  fairness  that  the 
lumbermen  of  the  Pacific  Northwest  represent  one  great  industry 
which  did  not  profiteer  during  the  war. 

The  average  worker  is  no  fool.  He  does  not  want  to  kill 
the  goose  that  lays  the  golden  eggs,  but  he  will  certainly  not 
take  his  employer's  unsupported  word  on  the  question  of  profits. 

Having  demonstrated  to  the  men  by  the  books  that  the 
employers  were  not  making  exorbitant  profits,  it  became  possible 
to  ask  them  to  play  fair  and  to  join  with  the  employers  in 
bettering  the  condition  of  the  industry. 

The  first  requisite  of  fairness  is  to  have  all  the  cards  on 
the  table;  we  had  all  of  them  on  the  table.  I  had  learned 
during  seventeen  years  as  an  officer  in  the  Army,  that  it  is  not 
the  power  to  enforce  obedience,  but  the  willingness  to  obey,  that 
brings  results,  and  that  an  absolutely  square  deal  will  inevitably 
induce  that  willingness.  I  carried  that  same  thought  into  the 
management  of  a  large  state  prison  some  years  ago.  That 
prison  was  also  an  industrial  establishment  doing  a  business  of 
three  million  a  year;  instead  of  running  it  as  a  prison  I  managed 


2i8  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

it  as  a  factory.  We  raised  wages,  reduced  hours,  and  got 
together  in  frequent  talks  to  explain  what  we  were  trying  to 
do.  And  the  prisoners  cooperated  gladly.  I  wanted  to  have 
those  same  basic  principles  at  work  cutting  lumber. 

We  had  meanwhile  organized  the  "Loyal  Legion  of  Loggers 
and  Lumbermen"  on  a  patriotic  basis.  The  members  pledged 
themselves  to  do  their  part  in  the  winning  of  the  war. 

Our  only  object  was  war  and  we  had  no  thought  of  a 
permanent  organization  for  the  management  of  the  lumber 
industry.  I  was  simply  recruiting  an  industrial  army — a  big 
army  of  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  men  scattered  among 
more  than  a  thousand  camps  and  mills  in  three  states. 

The  agitators  had  of  course  preached  against  the  war  with 
the  usual  text  that  it  was  but  another  capitalist  scheme  to  bear 
down  the  worker  and  they  had  made  some  headway,  but  it  did 
not  take  long  for  patriotism  to  sweep  away  the  obstructionists. 
In  the  forming  of  the  organization,  patriotism  had  its  large 
part  but  I  am  sure  we  should  not  have  succeeded  without  the 
coupling  of  substantial  justice  with  patriotism. 

During  the  first  year  we  held  four  conventions  to  which 
came  representatives  of  the  various  camps  of  the  sections,  and 
out  of  them  grew  the  Headquarters'  Council  representative  sys- 
tem which  I  shall  presently  describe.  The  big  thing  is  that  once 
the  employers  and  the  employees  each  found  that  the  other  was 
perfectly  human,  a  great  many  matters  which  had  formerly 
seemed  impossible  of  settlement  now  appeared  to  be  merely 
subjects  for  mutual  discussion.  That  is  always  the  case — let 
people  sit  down  and  talk  and  they  will  find  a  solution  for  nearly 
anything — if  only  the  conviction  exists  that  both  sides  want  to 
be  fair. 

The  early  elections  for  workers'  members  of  the  Headquarters' 
Council  showed  the  attitude  of  the  workers  toward  representa- 
tion. The  delegates  at  the  meeting  to  nominate  and  elect  these 
members  did  not  know  one  another;  of  the  various  nominees 
probably  not  more  than  two  were  known  even  by  name  by  the 
vast  majority  of  those  present.  A  delegate  suggested  that  each 
nominee  tell  what  he  expected  to  do  if  elected— remember  these 
men  were  supposed  to  be  ultra-radicals.  It  would  not  have  been 
surprising  if  the  occasion  had  been  taken  to  let  off  a  good  deal 
of  anti-capital  stuff.  But  nothing  of  the  kind  happened;  two 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  219 

or  three  nominees  started  on  approved  I.W.W.  tirades,  but 
they  did  not  get  far — the  delegates  howled  them  down;  they 
wanted  to  hear  doers  and  not  talkers.  Finally  they  elected  their 
representatives — Americans,  who  had  stated  the  most  sensible 
and  constructive  ideas  on  these  points : 

1.  To  discover  first  if   the  operators  were   sincere   in  their 
intentions,  or  if  there  was  "a  nigger  in  the  woodpile." 

2.  The  stabilization  of  the  industry  so  that  twelve  months' 
work  might  be  given. 

3.  Keeping    in    touch    with    constituents    so    that,    as    repre- 
sentatives, they  would  always  represent.  .  . 

The  Armistice  came  with  the  Northwest  lumbering  going 
at  full  swing.  Instead  of  a  limitless  market  with  guaranteed 
prices  and  wages,  operators  and  workers  saw  ahead  a  very 
unsteady  market,  unknown  prices,  and  a  possible  return  to  worse 
than  the  pre-war  conditions.  After  a  taste  of  better  living 
nobody  wanted  to  go  back  to  the  old  ways.  They  had  dis- 
covered that,  acting  together,  the  industry  could  do  more  than 
if  it  were  composed,  as  before,  of  a  thousand  camps  disorganized 
on  the  throat-cutting  basis. 

I  had  no  longer  any  right  to  mix  into  the  industry  beyond 
the  winding  up  of  affairs;  as  a  war  measure,  the  Loyal  Legion 
was  scheduled  to  pass  out  of  existence.  But  the  members 
thought  otherwise.  They  would  not  have  it  die;  they  wanted 
it  and  in  two  conventions  held  in  December,  1918,  the  one  in 
Portland,  Oregon,  and  the  other  in  Spokane,  Washington,  the 
Loyal  Legion  of  Loggers  and  Lumbermen  began  as  a  peace 
organization,  faced  with  the  reconstruction  of  the  lumber  trade 
in  the  Northwest.  They  drew  up  a  constitution  and  by-laws  and 
the  objects  as  stated  in  the  constitution  give  an  idea  of  the 
broad  purposes  which  dominated : 

To  maintain  the  basic  eight-hour  day. 

To  ensure  to  the  workman  a  just  and  equitable  wage,  and  to 
the  employer  a  maximum  degree  of  efficiency. 

To  standardize  working  and  living  conditions  in  camps  and 
mills.  To  create  a  community  spirit  by  the  promotion  of  matters 
pertaining  to  public  welfare,  in  each  locality. 

To  encourage,  when  and  where  it  is  found  feasible,  cooper- 
ative hospitals  for  the  care  of  the  sick  and  injured,  and  medical 
attention  to  the  families  of  members. 


220  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

To  cooperate  with  the  legislative  bodies  of  the  various  states 
for  the  improvement  of  laws  relative  to  accident  insurance  and 
the  prevention  of  accidents. 

To  institute,  when  feasible,   employment   service. 

To  further  recreation  and  educational  facilities  in  the  camps 
and  mills. 

To  provide  an  organization  on  the  basic  principle  of  the 
"square  deal,"  in  which  both  employer  and  employee  are  eligible 
for  membership  and  may  meet  on  common  ground. 

To  promote  closer  relationship  between  employer  and  em- 
ployee in  the  lumber  industry. 

To  provide  means  for  the  amicable  adjustment,  on  an  equitable 
basis,  of  all  differences  that  may  arise  between  employer  and 
employee. 

To  foster  personal  relationship  and  the  spirit  of  loyalty  be- 
tween the  employers,  their  representatives,  and  the  employees. 

To  provide  methods  of  informing  its  members  upon  all 
questions  of  trade  interest  to  operators  and  workmen. 

To  favor  the  development  of  logged-over  lands  for  actual 
settlers,  upon  a  reasonable  system  of  payments. 

To  develop,  to  the  highest  degree  possible,  loyalty  to  the 
United  States  and  its  laws  and  government,  and  to  promote  and 
demand  proper  respect  for  its  flag. 

The  patriotic  urge  still  remained  and  the  following  pledge 
which  every  member  is  required  to  take  might  serve  as  a  model 
for  any  organization. 

"I,  the  undersigned,  firmly  convinced  that  the  best  interests 
of  both  employer  and  employee  in  the  lumber  industry  are  con- 
served by  the  principles  set. forth  in  the  constitution  and  by-laws 
of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  Loggers  and  Lumbermen,  and  that  the 
great  principles  of  democracy  upon  which  the  United  States  was 
established  and  upon  which  it  must  continue  to  operate,  are 
based  upon  the  mutual  cooperation  which  is  the  foundation  of 
the  Loyal  Legion  of  Loggers  and  Lumbermen,  do  solemnly 
promise  and  vow  that  I  will,  to  the  utmost  of  my  ability,  seek  to 
promote  a  closer  relationship  between  employers  and  employees 
of  the  industry;  to  standardize  and  coordinate  working  condi- 
tions ;  to  improve  the  living  environment  in  camps  and  mills ; 
to  promote  the  spirit  of  cooperation  and  mutual  helpfulness 
among  the  workers  and  operators,  as  a  patriotic  endeavor  look- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  221 

ing  toward  the  welfare  of  our  citizens;  to  build  up  the  efficiency 
of  the  industry  for  the  prosperity  of  every  individual  connected 
therewith;  and  to  stamp  out  anarchy  and  sabotage  wherever  I 
may  find  it." 

In  consequence  of  these  policies  the  lumber  industry  has 
gone  from  a  war  to  a  peace  basis  without  more  than  a  tremor. 
Neither  the  employers  nor  the  employees  have  found  it  neces- 
sary to  talk  about  "reconstruction"  or  to  hold  investigations  or 
to  collect  statistics.  There  is  no  unemployment  and  there  is  not 
even  the  rumor  of  a  strike — for  there  is  nothing  to  strike  about. 
Why? 

The  employer  and  the  employee  are  thinking  in  terms  of  each 
other. 


THE   SUCCESSFUL   MAINTENANCE  OF  LOY- 
ALTY AND  MORALE 1 

We  asked  this  unusual  manager  to  consider  us  one  of  his 
committee  and  give  us  exactly  the  kind  of  thing  he  had  been 
handing  out  to  his  men  the  hour  before,  or  previous  hours.  He 
agreed,  and  this  is  what  he  gave  us: 

We  do  not  know  which  way  the  country  is  going.  A  financial 
readjustment  is  certain  to  come.  But  whatever  the  result  White 
Motor  wants  to  survive,  and  wants  to  govern  itself  and  not  be 
dictated  to  by  outsiders.  How  can  we  survive  and  keep  control 
of  this  business  among  ourselves  whichever  way  the  country 
goes?  And  what  is  there  in  it  for  you  to  have  helped  the  White 
Motor  keep  on  in  the  way  it  has  started,  regardless  of  what 
happens  outside? 

Let  us  see.  There  are  three  hundred  manufacturers  of  motor 
trucks  in  America.  A  large  number  of  them  will  go  to  the  wall. 
We  manufacture  about  ten  per  cent  of  the  total  output  of  the 
country.  We  want  to  keep  that  ten  per  cent.  If  we  do  we 
shall  have  to  keep  on  absorbing  our  ten  per  cent  of  all  those 
that  go  under.  That  means  that  we  shall  need  to  double  our 
plant  in,  say  two  years,  and  triple  it  in  five  years.  Now,  if  we 
double  or  triple  our  plant  what  will  it  mean  for  us? 

1  John  R.  Commons.  Industrial  Government.  The  Macmillan  Com- 
pany. New  York.  1921.  p.  3-12.  Reprinted  by  Permission. 


222  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

Well,  we  doubled  it  during  the  past  five  years  and  here  is 
what  it  meant: 

While  our  plant  value  increased  from  $1,879,000  in  1914  to 
$3.650,000  in  1919  our  production  value  increased  from  $9,000,000 
in  1914  to  over  $35,000,000  in  1919.  This  means  that  five  years 
ago  for  every  dollar  we  invested  in  our  plant  we  produced  about 
$4.80  worth  of  motor  trucks,  and  this  year  for  every  dollar  in 
the  plant  we  produced  $9.60  worth  of  trucks. 

The  number  of  employees  has  more  than  doubled.  The  ave- 
rage number  of  men  in  1914  was  2202 ;  now  it  is  5475.  The  pro- 
duction per  man  in  1914  was  1-92/100  trucks;  in  1919,  it  was 
2-75/100  trucks,  an  increase  of  forty  three  per  cent. 

We  have  increased  the  earnings  of  our  employees  from  an 
average  of  $15.03  a  week  in  1914  to  $31.64  in  1919,  or  an  in- 
crease of  one  hundred  eleven  per  cent.  Our  total  pay  roll  for 
factory  employees  in  1914  was  $1,688,000,  now  it  is  $8,835,000. 

All  this  has  been  done  without  any  material  increase  in  the 
price  to  the  purchaser  of  our  trucks.  Our  price  has  been  in- 
creased only  ten  per  cent,  at  a  time  when  all  prices,  wages,  and 
cost  of  material  have  gone  up  fifty  per  cent,  one  hundred  per 
cent,  or  more. 

Looks  wonderful,  doesn't  it?  Can  we  keep  it  up?  See  where 
we  must  be  to  double  in  two  years  and  triple  in  five  years,  if  we 
can  keep  it  up.  The  figures  given  below  show  the  estimated  fac- 
tory value  of  production  for  each  of  the  next  five  years: 


Factory  Value  of  Production 

1920 $ 

1921 67,244,100 

1922 82,526,850 

1923 97,809,600 

1924 113,092,350 

The  big  thing  is,  where  are  we  going  to  get  the  capital  in 
order  to  expand?  The  business  that  does  not  expand  is  really 
falling  behind.  We  must  expand  further  than  our  competitors, 
or  else  we  are  falling  behind.  If  we  take  five  years  we  can 
probably  build  up  our  plant  out  of  earnings.  If  we  have  to  go 
too  fast  in  order  to  take  up  our  share  of  the  business  of  those 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  223 

who  fail  we  may  have  to  go  and  get  outside  capital.  As  long 
as  we  have  the  present  control  you  can  be  certain  that  the  pres- 
ent labor  policy  will  be  carried  out.  Our  policy  has  been  in  the 
past  and  is  now,  to  limit  payment  of  dividends  to  eight  per  cent 
on  capital  stock. 

On  what  devices  does  the  White  Motor  depend  for  keeping 
up  and  increasing  production? 

The  White  Motor  has  neither  any  system  of  bonuses,  prem- 
iums or  piece  rates.  Everything  is  a  straight  day  wage.  No 
time  and  motion  studies,  no  specific  inducements  to  individuals 
to  increase  their  output. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  very  careful  system  of  scheduling  the 
work  through  the  factory  and  there  is  a  standard  output  figured 
out  for  a  year  ahead  showing  how  many  trucks  must  be  made 
if  they  keep  up  to  the  plan  of  expansion.  The  year's  output 
has  been  narrowed  down  to  four  types  of  motor  trucks,  with 
some  variations  within  the  types,  and  all  models  are  scheduled 
for  erection  daily.  The  figure  of  each  day's  output  of  com- 
pleted trucks  is  filed  with  the  various  superintendents  so  that 
the  organization  is  familiar  with  the  result  of  each  day's  work 
and  the  production  both  of  completed  trucks  and  the  main  as- 
semblies, such  as  engines,  axles,  and  transmissions,  is  published 
each  month  in  the  regular  issue  of  the  White-Book  so  that  the 
workmen  are  kept  informed  concerning  the  product  of  the  fac- 
tory. No  individual  is  speeded  up  by  a  piece  rate,  bonus  or 
premium — the  whole  factory  is  simply  watching  that  the  schedule 
is  met  or  exceeded.  Then,  if  a  department  falls  behind,  or  if 
the  whole  factory  falls  behind,  the  fifty-eight  hundred  employees 
want  to  know  where  the  fault  lies.  The  committees  and  the 
management  begin  to  inquire.  Cases  come  along  occasionally 
where  the  men  in  a  department  freeze  out  a  loafer.  The  man- 
agement is  proud  of  the  fact  that  they  seldom  fire  a  man,  and, 
most  of  all,  that  the  men  seldom  quit. 

The  turnover  records  are  astonishing.  During  the  year  1919 
the  rate  was  about  2454  per  cent.  It  got  as  low  as  1.23  per  cent 
in  February ;  as  high  as  2.65  per  cent  in  Ma}'.  In  1916  the  turn- 
over was  the  highest — 77  per  cent  for  the  year;  in  1917  it  was 
66  per  cent;  in  1918,  it  was  63  per  cent,  but  this  should  come 


224  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

down  to  54  per  cent  after  deducting  army  enlistments.  The 
average  for  other  factories  that  year  in  Cleveland  and  vicinity 
was  stated  by  the  company  to  have  been  about  300  per  cent. 

To  sum  it  all  up,  what  are  the  White  Motor's  substitutes 
for  the  motion  studies,  piece  work,  profit  sharing  and  all  the 
other  scientific  methods  of  appealing  to  the  individual  for  in- 
creased product. 

Isn't  it  something  like  this?  Thinking  and  planning  for  the 
future.  Keeping  the  mind  of  every  man  away  from  whatever 
there  is  of  dullness  and  monotony  in  his  task.  Just  touching  the 
imagination ;  arousing  in  every  heart  zeal  for  progress  and  pride 
in  a  great  common  enterprise;  lighting  up  the  most  menial  and 
stupefying  task  with  the  rays  of  a  great  industrial  vision. 

But  all  this  is  not  as  easy  as  it  may  sound.  How  are  you 
going  to  get  a  good  red-blooded  workman  to  sit  down  and  be 
lectured  to  on  the  subject  of  a  great  industrial  vision?  How 
are  you  going  to  get  him  to  believe  that  expansion  has  some- 
thing in  it  for  him? 

The  White  Motor  Management  does  it  by  the  policy  of  hon- 
esty and  openness.  It  furnishes  copies  of  its  annual  report  to 
all  employees  requesting  it,  and  sets  forth  in  the  White-Book 
the  essential  facts  contained  in  the  report.  The  White-Book  is 
sent  every  month  into  the  homes  of  every  employee  and  it 
forces  information  about  itself  not  only  to  the  men  but  also 
on  their  wives  and  families.  It  shows  what  they  have  to  fear 
and  what  they  have  to  hope,  and  then  promises  to  keep  faith 
with  them  in  sharing  prosperity  with  them. 

It  does  not  offer  all  this  information  in  the  name  of  indus- 
trial democracy.  The  shop  committee  in  the  White  Motor  Com- 
pany was  started  neither  as  a  grievance  committee  nor  a  legis- 
lative body.  The  idea  back  of  it  was  not  in  any  sense  the  idea 
back  of  the  inside  organization  of  workmen  which  union  men 
are  accustomed  to  designate  with  greater  or  less  scorn  as  "a 
company  union."  The  company  has  never  made  any  attempt  to 
give  the  employees  any  degree  of  industrial  self-government.  One 
of  the  objects  of  this  committee  was  apparently  exactly  the 
opposite — it  was  that  some  day  employees  may  assume  a  greater 
or  less  degree  of  self-government,  and  if  this  company  is  going 
to  be  one  of  those  which  survive  it  must  prepare  the  workmen 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  225 

to  exercise  intelligently  whatever  degree  of  power  they  may 
have.  It  is  not  for  the  company  to  give  power,  it  is  for  it  to  give 
the  information  which  may  save  it  when  the  workmen  have 
power.  The  company  is  not  trying  to  determine  the  form  of 
organization  under  which  the  power  may  sometime  be  wielded. 
The  company  keeps  in  its  employ  strong,  responsible,  intelligent 
leaders  of  every  variety  of  organization  which  is  likely  ever  to 
be  in  control.  This  seems  to  be  all  that  it  cares  to  do  toward 
securing  a  safe  transition  into  any  form  of  industrial  govern- 
ment which  may  come.  Which  form  this  industrial  government 
will  take  is  still  a  question. 

Many  trades  are  to  be  found  in  the  factory,  most  of  them 
at  least  partially  organized.  Cleveland  is  one  of  the  most  highly 
organized  cities  in  the  country,  so  that  although  White  Motor 
has  an  open  shop  policy,  a  large  part  of  the  men  probably  are 
or  have  been  at  some  time  members  of  the  union  of  their  trade. 
No  union,  however,  has  ever  presented  a  demand  to  the  com- 
pany. Informal  shop  committees  have  asked  for  wage  in- 
creases or  other  changes  in  conditions,  and  their  requests  have 
been  listened  to,  but  the  unions  have  not  interfered  in  the 
question  of  wages.  Only  once  have  they  shown  any  great  de- 
gree of  activity  and  that  was  when  the  men  got  an  idea  that 
a  change  of  management  was  impending.  Then  how  can  the 
White  Motor  Company  get  production  like  this  on  a  straight 
hourly  rate? 

In  the  long  run,  according  to  the  officials  of  the  company, 
time  rather  than  piece  rates  will  prove  to  be  the  cheapest.  It 
costs  too  much  to  hurry.  It  is  more  economical  to  employ  a 
young  man  and  keep  him  until  he  grows  old,  than  to  wear  out 
a  man,  or  lose  him  when  he  is  young.  They  point  to  their 
average  age  of  over  thirty-five  and  their  annual  turnover  of  24^ 
per  cent  in  connection  with  their  increased  per  capita  produc- 
tion figures.  Time  and  motion  studies,  they  maintain,  are  al- 
most necessarily  liable  to  grave  error.  They  are  not  elastic 
enough.  In  order  to  be  fairly  accurate  they  need  to  be  taken 
on  very  hot  days  and  comfortable  days;  early  in  the  morning 
and  just  before  closing  time;  early  in  the  week  and  late  in 
the  week ;  during  periods  of  political  and  industrial  turmoil,  and 
during  periods  of  political  and  industrial  calm.  They  vary 


226  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

under  conditions  of  domestic  difficulty  and  domestic  tranquillity. 
Human  beings  are  not  constant  in  their  ability  to  perform. 
Their  attainments  must  be  measured  over  reasonably  long 
periods. 

Is  there  any  other  factor  that  can  help  to  account  for 
increasing  per  capita  production  on  an  hourly  rate? 

When  you  offer  desirable  conditions  you  get  your  pick  of 
employees. 

As  might  be  expected  there  is  never  any  lack  of  applicants 
for  work  at  the  White  Motor.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  employ- 
ment department  takes  about  one  out  of  every  thirty  or  forty 
applicants.  Two  conditions  are  required  of  each  one  who  is 
employed;  he  must  live  in  Cleveland  and  he  must  have  taken 
out  his  first  citizenship  papers.  Preference  is  given  to  married 
men  and  returned  soldiers.  The  word  "he"  is  used  literally 
here.  It  means  what  it  says.  The  company  aims  to  pay  a 
family  wage  and  endeavors  to  employ  family  men.  Much  of 
the  work  could  be  performed  by  women,  but  it  is  the  intention 
of  the  company  to  use  only  men. 

There  is  in  the  White  Motor  plant  a  considerable  amount 
of  "service  work."  It  takes  the  usual  forms  of  furnishing  lunch 
and  medical  aid.  Then  there  is  the  consultation  bureau  where 
legal  aid  and  other  forms  of  advice  are  dispensed  on  company 
time.  The  company  shows  that  this  is  no  loss  to  them  since  it 
furnishes  a  convenient  place  to  transact  the  necessary  business 
for  which  employees  might  otherwise  have  to  lay  off  during 
working  hours.  And  it  is  on  record  that  the  men  themselves 
once  petitioned  to  have  more  men  in  the  Industrial  Service 
Department  to  answer  their  requests  in  order  that  they  need 
not  spend  so  much  time  away  from  their  work. 

The  foremen  and  all  executives  get  a  special  kind  of  service 
work.  It  is  one  hour  a  day  in  the  gymnasium,  on  company 
time,  and  it  is  mandatory.  If  a  foreman  cannot  arrange  his 
work  so  as  to  be  away  from  it  for  an  hour,  he  is  not  the  kind 
of  a  foreman  they  want.  This  is  the  White  Motor  course  of 
instruction  for  foremen  and  executives — it  gets  them  acquainted 
with  each  other  undressed ;  it  keeps  them  in  splendid  physique ; 
and  it  keeps  them  from  indigestion  and  getting  cross  and  sour 
with  their  workmen ;  it  keeps  them  at  the  top  notch  of  initiative 
and  pep. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  227 

The  educational  work  does  not  stop  with  the  shop.  There 
are  in  addition  the  classes  of  Americanization.  Suspicion  need 
not  be  aroused  here  with  regard  to  employers'  propaganda. 
The  man  at  the  head  of  Americanization  is  a  man  of  liberal 
thought.  He  attends  national  Socialist  conferences  and  he  is 
first  of  all  a  teacher  and  an  American.  He  has  lived  in  this 
country  twenty  years.  There  are  only  thirty  men  out  of 
fifty-eight  hundred  employees  who  have  not  taken  out  their 
first  papers,  and  that  is  because  they  intend  to  go  back  to 
Europe  soon.  The  teacher  in  Americanization  has  connected 
up  with  the  public  schools  and  three  hundred  men  are  in  the 
classes  an  hour  a  day  on  their  own  time.  The  company  gives 
them  fifteen  minutes  on  company  time  to  wash  up  and  reach  the 
Public  School. 

The  cost  of  all  this  work  is  figured  out  for  the  men  and  they 
see  that  it  takes  eight  cents  a  day  from  their  possible  wages. 
But  they  see  that  it  adds  much  to  their  actual  wages. 

Is  anything  more  needed  to  explain  why  they  work  as  they 
do?  What  is  back  of  it  all?  Not  a  strong  union  with  power 
to  secure  for  the  men  the  benefits  of  increased  production. 
Not  industrial  democracy.  Not  a  premium  or  a  bonus. 

Nothing  but  a  knowledge  of  all  the  facts  which  the  company 
itself  possesses ;  the  company's  verbal  assurance  that  it  will  do 
certain  things  in  the  future;  the  company's  reputation  for 
keeping  faith  with  employees  in  the  past;  for  not  having  tried 
to  "put  anything  over,"  and,  added  to  this,  the  knowledge  that 
the  company  has  not  weeded  out  of  its  employ  all  those  who 
disagree  with  the  present  industrial  system.  On  the  contrary, 
it  has  deliberately  encouraged  the  presence  of  strong  and  trusted 
leaders  of  the  people,  in  whom  they  have  confidence  and  on 
whose  judgment  and  intentions  they  can  rely.  Real  power  is 
here — potential  largely,  but  power  which  makes  it  possible  for 
the  men  at  the  White  Motor  to  accept  their  responsibility  and 
satisfaction  in  thinking  and  planning  for  the  future. 


XII.  LABOR'S  PART  IN  WELFARE  WORK 

Many  managers  refuse  to  use  the  name  "welfare  work"  for 
the  benefit  features  of  their  plant  policy  because  the  name  has 
become  associated  in  the  minds  of  workers  with  a  patronizing 
form  of  charity.  It  is  being  called  "service  work"  in  many 
cases  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  the  offensive  associations  of 
"welfare  work."  Business  men  have  countless  times  been  dis- 
appointed because  the  workers  showed  little  or  no  gratitude  for 
the  gifts,  benefits  and  services  bestowed  upon  them  free  of  cost. 
The  fact  of  the  case  is  that  what  has  seemed  to  employers  to  be 
sheer  ingratitude  on  the  part  of  their  workers  has  been  simply 
a  normal  human  self-respect.  People,  whether  employers  or 
employees,  resent  gifts  which  smack  of  charity.  There  is  no 
denying  that  in  the  past  a  very  large  part  of  welfare  work  has 
proceeded  upon  the  assumption  that  the  normal  worker  does 
not  have  the  same  self-respect  which  his  employer  prides 
himself  upon.  Not  a  few  employers  who  would  feel  sharply 
insulted  at  the  insinuation  that  they  personally  were  the  recip- 
ients of  charity  cannot  understand  why  their  workers  term 
similar  profferings  "hell-fare"  work.  There  is  only  one  solid 
psychological  basis  for  welfare  work  and  that  is  a  due  recog- 
nition of  the  sentiments  of  self-esteem,  self-respect  and  self- 
expression  of  men. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL      LIMITS      TO      WELFARE 
WORK1 

As  the  Commission  (on  adult  education)  phrased  the  prob- 
lem, it  is  "to  humanize  the  working  of  an  industrial  system 
which  is  based  on  the  perfection  of  the  machine."  Obviously, 
yes.  But  how?  There  are  two  suggestions  that  we  ought  to 
consider  before  proceeding  further.  They  are  those  offered  by 
the  social  uplifter  and  the  manufacturer.  "Improve  the  living 

1  John  Manning  Booker.  Industrial  Partnership.  Yale  Review.  Jan- 
uary, 1020.  p.  293-5- 


230  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

conditions  of  the  laborer,"  says  the  former;  "and  stimulate  his 
interest  in  moulding  these  conditions."  "Give  him  a  better 
industrial  training,"  says  the  latter;  "the  more  he  knows  about 
his  work,  the  better  he  will  like  it." 

We  can  readily  believe  that  such  measures  would  aid  in 
quieting  industrial  unrest;  we  cannot  conceive  how  they  would 
allay  it.  For  three-quarters  of  a  century  the  social  uplift 
worker  has  been  nobly  engaged  in  bettering  the  conditions  of 
living  created  by  modern  industry.  With  much  to  be  done,  he 
has  accomplished  much ;  but  his  most  has  failed  to  bring  content. 
Even  where  he  has  secured  the  active  cooperation  of  the 
state  and  the  individual  manufacturer  and,  in  consequence, 
succeeded  in  attaining  or  approximating  his  ideals,  he  has  failed, 
we  venture  to  say,  to  bring  content. 

Houses  designed  with  a  view  to  please  the  workman's  eye 
and  reduce  the  labor  of  his  wife — sewered,  drained,  centrally 
heated,  electrically  lighted,  equipped  with  "all  the  modern  con- 
veniences," and  with  a  stunted  evergreen  in  a  garden  box  on 
each  side  of  the  front  door;  hospitals  and  community  nurses; 
schools  that  have  theatres,  refectories,  gymnasiums,  pictures  on 
the  walls,  and  even  real  teachers  in  the  class  rooms;  libraries — 
open  or  closed  shelf ;  parks  and  playgrounds  with  trained 
attendants,  one  to  show  the  larger  children  how  to  use  the 
gymnastic  apparatus,  another  to  lead  the  songs  and  dances  of 
the  middle-sized  children,  and  a  third  to  dust  the  babies ;  churches 
with  every  conceivable  parish  house  activity  and  preachers  who 
make  using  the  Ten  Commandments  seem  easy  and  natural — 
all  this  is  paradise,  but  it  is  not  content.  And  the  real  man 
would  be  just  about  as  contented  in  such  a  community  as  he 
would  be  in  paradise;  which  is  to  say,  not  much.  Unless,  con- 
trary to  everything  we  have  been  led  to  expect,  he  should  be 
permitted  to  tumble  it  down  and  build  it  over  again.  We  could 
get  used  to  walking  on  golden  pavements  in  no  time ;  but  it 
would  make  us  extremely  nervous  and  depressed  to  know  they 
were  permanently  laid. 

The  industrial  education  idea  appeals  to  us  as  nearer  the 
mark;  but  it  falls  short.  It  benefits  too  few.  It  benefits  the 
real  craftsman — the  designers  among  laborers.  But  this  element 
has  decreased  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  quantity  output. 
In  past  times  every  skilled  workman  was  a  designer  or  an 
apprentice  to  a  designer;  but  nowadays  the  only  survivor  of 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  231 

the  craftsman  is  literally  one  in  a  thousand.  Tens  of  thousands 
engaged  in  making  clothes  for  American  men;  and  how  many 
cutters!  Industrial  education  is  a  splendid  thing;  but  it  is  for 
the  few,  because  under  modern  conditions  only  the  few  have 
a  chance  to  use  it. 

The  betterment  'of  living  conditions  and  the  spread  of  indus- 
trial education,  therefore,  will  not,  in  our  opinion,  suffice  to 
content  the  workman  and  allay  the  industrial  unrest. 

At  its  present  stage  this  discussion  may  be  thus  summed  up. 
If  the  workman  is  to  be  happy  in  his  work,  his  building  instinct 
must  be  satisfied.  This  instinct,  which  formerly  found  relief 
in  making  a  whole  thing,  has  been  choked  by  the  processes  of 
modern  manufacture  involved  in  quantity  output.  The  machinery 
of  modern  industry  has  made  a  machine  of  the  workman;  it 
has  brutalized  him.  But  the  industrial  system  is  here  to  stay. 
The  problem  is  how  to  humanize  it.  How  can  we  change  the 
workman's  job  so  that  while  he  is  at  it  he  will  feel  like  a  man 
building  something?  Like  a  man?  Like  a  god.  And  then  to 
find  enough  of  such  jobs.  A  large  order — that.  Profit-sharing 
will  not  fill  it,  or  betterment  of  living  conditions,  or  industrial 
education.  We  cannot  see  how  any  of  these  things  alone  will 
correct  the  existing  evil,  because,  to  our  mind,  none  of  them 
is  aimed  at  the  root  of  it,  namely,  the  industrial  system's 
stultification  of  the  individual  workman's  building  instinct. 


ESSENTIAL    CONDITIONS    OF   WELFARE 
WORK1 

Since  Owen's  time  there  have  been  many  well-intentioned 
plans  of  workers,  but  they  have  not  met  with  the  success 
expected.  The  failure  of  Pullman,  Illinois,  still  lingers  in 
memory  as  an  exhibition  of  what  a  short-sighted  labor  policy 
may  result  in,  however  kindly  the  spirit  in  which  the  plan  is 
launched.  In  other  cases,  by  ignoring  the  wishes  of  the  workers 
when  providing  for  them,  considerable  losses  have  been  incurred. 
A  widely  known  textile  company  in  Rhode  Island  spent  $20,000 
in  providing  a  well-equipped  clubhouse  for  its  workers;  but  it 
met  with  little  success.  One  of  the  largest  corporations  in  this 

1  Daniel  Bloomfield.  Labor  Maintenance,  p.  14-22.  The  Ronald  Press 
Company.  New  York.  1920. 


232  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

country  spent  over  a  million  dollars  in  establishing  "welfare" 
work — but  this  did  not  prevent  a  very  serious  and  costly  strike. 

Organised  Labor  Suspicious 

Organized  labor  has  been  particularly  hostile  to  welfare  work 
as  ordinarily  practiced.  And  why?  It  is  not  that  the  worker 
is  unappreciative,  but  that  he  will  not  be  patronized.  He  objects 
to  having  his  initiative  weakened  or  destroyed.  Furthermore, 
he  has  had  bitter  experience  with  employers  who  have  used 
welfare  work  as  a  club  over  him,  who  have  conducted  it  for 
advertising  purposes,  or  who  have  used  it  as  a  substitute  for 
a  fair,  living  wage. 

He  has  had  experience  with  employers  who  boasted  of  their 
fine  plan  for  sick  benefits,  when  sanitary  conditions  in  their 
plants  were  intolerable  and  the  object  of  attack  by  the  health 
authorities.  He  remembers  employers  who  produced  and  dis- 
tributed finely  printed,  expensive  pamphlets  describing  the  "wel- 
fare" work  at  their  mines  while  they  robbed  the  employee  at 
the  "company"  store  because  no  other  store  existed  or  was 
allowed  to  exist  in  the  town.  He  cannot  forget  the  employer's 
"model"  town  with  its  model  houses  from  which  he  was  evicted 
without  a  chance  to  find  other  shelter  because  a  foreman  "had 
it  in  for  him"  and  he  was  discharged  from  the  plant.  He  still 
meets  friends  who  lost  many  an  hour  wearily  waiting  for 
frequent  shortages  of  pay  to  be  adjusted  while  the  publicity 
representative  of  the  company  was  telling  of  the  fine  things 
being  done  for  the  workers'  welfare. 

"Trade  Union  Views" 

An  unusually  clear  statement  is  found  in  the  memorandum 
prepared  by  the  Joint  Committee  of  the  Woolwich  Trades  and 
Labor  Council,  and  the  Woolwich  Labor  Party.  This  paper 
states  that: 

The  following  conditions  are  essential  to  any  scheme  of 
welfare  supervision  that  is  to  win  the  full  confidence  and  support 
of  the  workers: 

1.  Welfare  supervision  must  aim  primarily  at  promoting  the 
welfare   of    the   workers,    and   not   at   increasing   the   workers' 
output. 

2.  In  the  interest  of  welfare  supervision  and  of  the  workers, 
duties    which    conflict    with    welfare    supervision    must    not    be 
included  in  the  works  of  welfare  supervisors. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  233 

3.  Welfare  schemes  and  supervisors  must  be  under  a  demo- 
cratic system  of  control  in  which  the  workers  shall  have  equal 
participation  with  the  employers. 

4.  The   established  field  of   operations   of   trade  unions  and 
their  officials  must  be  clearly  and  loyally  recognized  by  welfare 
schemes  and  supervisors. 

5.  Welfare  supervisors  should  be  drawn,  as  far  as  possible, 
from  among  the  workers. 

6.  Welfare  supervisors  should  not  be  appointed  without  pre- 
liminary   training    or    experience,    such    training    to    include    a 
knowledge  of  trade  union  aims  and  methods. 

7.  The  remuneration  and  hours  of  all  assistants  in  welfare 
supervision  work    (e.g.   canteen  workers)    must  be  of   a  trade 
union  standard. 

8.  If  government  control  of  welfare  supervision  is  maintained 
after  the  war,  such  control  must  be  transferred  from  the  Min- 
istry of  Munitions  to  the  Ministry  of  Labour. 

We  submit  further  that: 

9.  There    should   be    the    maximum    of    efficient    cooperation 
among  local  welfare   schemes,   especially  with   regard  to  small 
factories. 

10.  There    should    be    the    maximum    of    efficient    cooperation 
between  local  welfare  schemes  and  the  municipality,  especially 
with  regard  to  health,  housing,  transit,  and  recreation. 

11.  As  welfare  supervision  will  probably  become  a  permanent 
and  extending  element  of  the  industrial  system,  there  should  be 
held  in  each  industrial  center,  one  or  more  conferences,  convened 
by  the  Trade   Council,   or  where   there  is   also   a   local   labour 
party,  both  bodies  jointly,   for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
aims,  scope,  and  methods  of  welfare  supervision;  and  that  such 
local  conferences  should  be  followed  by  a  joint  conference  of 
the  Trade  Union  Congress  and  the  National  Labour  Party. 

In  short,  labor  does  not  want  the  worker  bound  to  his 
employer  by  any  scheme  no  matter  how  great  its  benefits.  The 
worker  wants  no  "benevolent  feudalism." 

On  the  other  hand,  to  quote  the  words  of  Bolen  in  Getting 
a  Living,  the  statement  cited  above  shows  also  that: 

The  staunchest  unionists  are  not  so  unreasonable  as  to  be 
hostile  to  the  welfare  institutions  of  the  employer  who  asks 
no  surrender  of  manly  right,  nor  attempts  to  reimburse  himself 
from  wages  and  who,  not  posing  as  a  philanthropist  nor  expect- 


234  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

ing  gratitude,  treats  his  men  well  because  it  is  the  only  right 
way — a  way  equally  as  profitable  to  himself  as  to  them  or  to 
society.  There  need  be  no  trouble  here  if  the  employer's  designs 
are  those  of  straightforward  business. 

In  her  recent  book  on  the  subject,  Miss  E.  Dorothea  Proud 
defines  welfare  work  to  consist  "of  voluntary  efforts  on  the 
part  of  employers  to  improve,  within  the  existing  industrial 
system,  the  conditions  of  employment  in  their  own  factories." 
She  excludes  profit-sharing  and  co-partnership  from  this  defini- 
tion. George  M.  Price  in  The  Modern  Factory,  defines  welfare 
work  as  "all  devices,  appliances,  activities,  and  institutions 
voluntarily  created  and  maintained  by  employers  for  the  purpose 
of  improving  the  economic,  physical,  intellectual,  or  social  con- 
ditions of  the  workers  in  their  industrial  establishments."  With 
such  a  conception  of  "welfare  work"  organized  labor  has  no 
quarrel. 


SUCCESSFUL    ADMINISTRATION    OF 
WELFARE  WORK1 

It  will  be  found  that  in  slightly  more  than  one-half  the  cases 
the  administration  of  this  work  is  by  employers  alone.  This 
may  give  a  somewhat  wrong  impression,  since  there  are  neces- 
sarily many  firms  reported  which  do  comparatively  little  along 
these  lines.  The  companies  which  do  the  least  are  those  most 
likely  to  control  entirely  such  features  as  they  have,  partly 
because  the  kinds  of  work  first  introduced  are  usually  those 
which  naturally  remain  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the 
firm,  and  partly  because  it  usually  takes  some  experience  to 
realize  the  desirability  of  giving  the  employees  an  active  part 
in  the  conduct  of  the  welfare  activities. 

It  is  natural  that  the  employer  should  direct  the  work  of  the 
emergency  hospital,  although  there  are  a  number  of  cases  where 
this  has  been  given  over  to  the  benefit  association;  similarly 
several  firms  allow  their  employees  to  manage  the  lunch  room, 
whether  on  a  cooperative  basis  or  using  the  profits  for  the 
benefit  or  athletic  association.  The  employees  quite  frequently 

1  Welfare  Work  for  Employees  in  Industrial  Establishments  in  the 
United  States.  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Bulletin.  250. 

p.     121-2. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  235 

have  a  voice  in  the  management  of  the  club  rooms  or  houses, 
in  several  instances  being  given  entire  control  of  the  clubhouse. 
In  the  matter  of  athletics  and  recreation  more  often  the  em- 
ployer plays  a  passive  part,  assisting  financially  and  providing 
rooms  for  meeting  purposes,  gymnasiums,  and  athletic  fields. 
The  work  among  families,  except  what  is  done  in  connection 
with  the  benefit  association,  is  entirely  under  the  direction  of 
the  companies  through  the  medium  of  the  welfare  secretary  or 
visiting  nurse.  The  administration  of  the  benefit  association  is 
in  most  cases  either  mutual  or  in  the  hands  of  the  employees. 
Pensions  and  group  insurance  funds,  generally  being  provided 
by  the  firms,  are  administered  by  them,  as  is  much  of  the 
educational  work,  although  frequently  members  of  the  force 
assist  in  teaching,  especially  in  the  classes  in  English  for 
foreigners. 

Mention  must  be  made  of  one  conspicuous  and  well-known 
example  of  cooperative  management  by  the  firm  and  its  em- 
ployees of  both  the  business  and  the  welfare  organization.  It 
has  been  the  policy  of  this  company,  in  increasing  degree  through 
the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  to  give  the  employees  a  share  in 
the  management.  An  association  of  the  employees  is  maintained, 
to  which  all  of  them  belong.  The  affairs  of  this  organization 
are  conducted  by  a  group  elected  by  the  employees,  and  this 
executive  body  has  the  power  to  make,  change  or  amend  any 
rule  that  affects  the  discipline  or  working  conditions  of  the 
employees.  This  can  be  carried  even  over  the  veto  of  the 
management  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all  the  employees.  This 
association  is  also  represented  by  four  members  on  the  board 
of  eleven  directors  of  the  corporation.  All  the  parts  of  the 
welfare  organization  have  been  carefully  built  up  and  are  con- 
trolled and  managed  by  the  council  of  the  association  through 
committees.  The  firm  contributes  club  and  business  rooms, 
certain  salaries,  and  any  other  assistance  necessary.  The  funda- 
mental principle  followed  by  the  club  in  the  management,  however, 
is  that  these  activities  shall  be  in  the  main  self-supporting  and 
that  financial  or  other  assistance  rendered  by  the  firm  shall 
receive  a  direct  return  from  the  employees  in  increased  efficiency. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  in  this  particular  instance  the  generous 
and  broad-minded  policy  of  the  firm  is  reflected  in  the  very 
unusual  personal  interest  in  the  business  which  is  evidenced  by 
the  employees  as  a  whole. 


XIII.  THE  MIND  OF  THE  ALIEN  AND 
AMERICANIZATION 

The  chief  factor  left  out  of  account  in  a  great  deal  of 
Americanization  work  is  the  mind  of  the  alien.  The  assumption 
has  been  that  a  certain  amount  of  moral  preaching  on  the  duty 
of  the  immigrant  to  appreciate  what  America  has  done  for  him, 
a  certain  amount  of  night  school  teaching  of  the  English 
language,  and  a  certain  amount  of  information  about  the  history 
and  life  of  America  would  create  a  new  loyalty  and  a  new 
mental  outlook.  This  assumption  leaves  out  of  account  the 
fundamental  influences  upon  the  psychological  structure  of  the 
alien.  It  grossly  underestimates  the  grip  of  the  cultural  back- 
ground of  the  alien's  previous  life  upon  his  present  thoughts 
and  emotions.  It  decidedly  overestimates  in  any  number  of 
cases  the  benefits  for  which  the  alien  ought  to  feel  grateful. 
Working  conditions,  through  the  effect  of  low  wages  on  the 
possessive  instincts  and  the  parental  instincts,  through  the  effect 
of  long  hours  and  of  fatigue  and  monotony  upon  the  nervous 
organism,  through  the  effect  of  industry  upon  the  creative  and 
self-assertive  impulses  of  the  worker,  are  building  hour  by  hour 
into  the  worker's  life  his  basic  loyalties,  gratitudes,  and  satis- 
factions. If  working  conditions  are  sound,  the  foundation  of 
Americanization  is  secure.  Propaganda,  language  teaching,  in- 
struction in  history,  and  the  like,  are  at  best  a  superstructure. 
They  cannot  shake  the  fundamental  loyalties  of  the  worker  as 
they  are  fashioned  in  the  thousand  experiences  of  the  alien's 
daily  life.  When  both  approaches  are  made,  Americanization 
is  a  natural,  spontaneous  outcome.  Americanization  is  a  thing 
that  cannot  be  forced;  it  must  grow  from  within  as  a  feeling 
and  a  mental  outlook.  Americanization  should  establish  itself 
psychologically  by  recognizing  first  and  last  the  mind  of  the  alien. 


238  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

THE  DISTINCT  PSYCHOLOGICAL  BACK- 
GROUND OF  THE  ALIEN  1 

If  assimilation  is  the  establishment  of  an  identity  of  interest 
expressed  through  common  reactions  to  American  thought  and 
life,  through  a  unity  of  public  opinion,  and  through  a  common 
belief  in  American  government  and  institutions,  what  then  are 
the  principles  which  native  and  foreign  born  alike  can  under- 
stand and  apply  in  the  every  day  affairs  of  life? 

Recognition  is  the  first  of  these  principles — recognition  by 
the  American  of  the  capacities,  qualities,  and  contributions  which 
the  immigrants  bring;  and  by  the  immigrant  of  the  ideals  and 
achievements  of  Americans.  Americans,  hitherto,  have  been 
inclined  to  "lump  their  appreciation"  of  what  the  various  races 
have  brought  to  America.  They  judge  racial  traits  largely  by 
direct  and  indirect  contact  with  individual  members  or  with 
isolated  groups  of  the  various  races,  and  not  by  a  knowledge 
of  the  history  and  culture  of  the  races  as  a  whole,  of  which  the 
individual  is  but  the  product.  But  recently  a  systematic  effort 
has  been  made,  notably  by  the  Literary  Digest  and  other  maga- 
zines, to  bring  before  the  American  people  the  characteristics 
and  achievements  of  the  various  races.  This  new  interest  on 
the  part  of  America  toward  racial  information  has  been  one  of 
the  contributions  which  the  war  has  stimulated. 

But  the  application  of  this  racial  information  to  practical 
affairs  is  hardly  begun.  For  instance,  Americans  regard  quite 
differently  the  Italian  in  America  who  is  doing  rough  labor, 
than  they  do  the  Italian  in  his  native  environment;  and  they 
seem  to  see  little  connection  between  the  ditch  digger  and  the 
literature  and  art  of  his  race.  Also,  it  scarcely  occurs  to  us 
that  there  is  reason  for  a  joint  celebration  on  Columbus  Day 
by  native  Americans  and  foreign  born  Italians,  and  only  recently 
have  we  begun  to  recognize  their  national  holidays.  By  such 
lack  of  appreciation  we  have  failed  to  convey  to  the  members 
of  almost  every  race  whatever  concept  we  may  have  had  of  their 
racial  accomplishments. 

This  apparent  unwillingness  or  inability  of  the  Americans 
to  connect  in  their  own  minds  the  immigrant  with  his  heritage, 

1  From  Immigration  and  the  Future.  By  Frances  Kellor.  p.  259-64. 
Copyright  1921.  George  H.  Doran  Company,  Publishers. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  239 

has  caused  us  to  pay  but  little  attention  to  the  individual.  On 
the  one  hand  he  has  been  admitted  to  the  country,  which  in 
itself  may  be  taken  as  a  recognition,  either  of  his  desirability 
or  of  his  labor.  American  citizenship  has  been  offered  to  him — 
a  decided  recognition  that  he  could  appreciate  a  free  government. 
American  schools  have  been  opened  to  him, — a  recognition  of 
his  desire  to  learn  our  language  and  history.  An  earnest  effort 
was  made  to  Americanize  him — a  recognition,  from  one  point 
of  view  of  his  worthiness,  or  from  another  point  of  view  of 
its  necessity  to  America.  Coincident  with  the  war  there  has 
also  been  established  a  number  of  joint  societies — a  recognition 
of  the  desirability  of  bringing  the  various  races  and  native 
Americans  together.  Increasing  attention  has  also  been  given 
to  the  holdings  of  exhibitions  of  the  arts  and  crafts  of  the 
races — a  recognition  of  the  cultural  contribution  which  the 
immigrants  have  made  to  America. 

But  what  of  the  day's  work — the  place  and  time  where  most 
theories  are  tested  and  where  most  ambitions  are  realized? 
Here  the  tendency  has  been  to  limit  our  recognition  of  the 
immigrant  to  his  value  as  a  laborer.  As  a  result,  discriminations 
in  employment,  in  promotions,  in  treatment  and  in  living  con- 
ditions have,  to  a  considerable  extent,  usurped  the  place  of 
recognition.  This  limitation  of  recognition  to  labor  values 
explains,  in  a  large  measure,  our  inability  to  absorb  or  to  incorpo- 
rate other  racial  values  into  the  native  American  system.  This 
has  resulted  in  a  loss  to  American  business,  as  a  few  observations 
will  show. 

Deterioration  in  workmanship,  no  less  than  low  production, 
is  creating  anxiety  among  American  manufacturers;  not  only 
because  of  the  increased  cost  but  because  of  its  possible  effect 
upon  international  markets.  A  considerable  part  of  this  deterio- 
ration is  due  unquestionably  to  the  loss  of  immigrants  and  to 
our  past  neglect  to  conserve  the  quality  of  workmanship  of 
immigrants.  It  is  also  due  to  our  failure  to  note  the  varying 
qualities  in  different  races, — qualities  which  best  fit  them  for 
American  industry,  by  giving  the  highest  return  in  the  quality 
and  quantity  of  production.  What  are  some  of  these  qualities 
that  deserve  recognition? 

First,  the  immigrants  of  the  majority  of  the  races  which 
supply  America  with  unskilled  labor  have  a  capacity  for  faithful 
operation  and  a  natural  instinct  for  perfection.  As  part  of 


240  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

the  craft  training  of  the  old  world  they  take  pride  in  their 
work,  and  their  desire  for  perfection  yields  more  slowly  to  the 
insistent  pressure  for  quantity.  Second,  they  have  a  definite  "work 
sense,"  which  they  do  not  constantly  seek  to  evade.  Third,  they 
possess  a  better  discipline  in  working  together.  Fourth,  the 
peasant  has  the  patience  to  do  the  drudgery  incident  to  monot- 
onous work  and  the  endurance  to  stand  its  strain.  Fifth,  they 
have  a  sense  of  frugality  which  eliminates  waste  in  plant 
operations.  Sixth,  they  have  a  capacity  for  self-discipline  and 
for  working  together  within  the  narrow  confines  of  mechanical 
work,  an  asset  to  which  Americans  have  given  little  thought. 

The  American  producer  who  must  compete  in  the  markets 
of  the  world,  including  America,  with  the  products  which  these 
races  will  make  in  their  native  lands,  may  well  consider  whether 
the  encouragement  of  immigration  of  races  possessing  these 
qualities  in  a  high  degree  is  not  a  matter  of  considerable 
importance  to  American  commerce.  When  competition  with 
the  frugal  peoples  of  Europe,  with  their  lower  cost  of  production 
and  higher  quality  of  output,  begins  to  make  itself  felt  throughout 
the  world,  American  employers  may  realize,  when  it  is  too 
late,  the  importance  of  knowing  how  to  reach,  at  its  source,  the 
labor  supply  of  the  races  which  will  ultimately  produce  the  most 
of  the  best  qualities  at  the  least  cost. 

The  steady  capability  of  the  immigrant  workman  and  his 
resistance  to  change  are  of  considerable  importance  in  production. 
These  qualities  could  be  utilized  to  a  greater  extent  if  the 
employer  understood  his  racial  workmen.  Before  the  war  the 
average  employer  was  skeptical  if  he  was  told  that  his  racial 
workman  required  a  special  recognition.  Today  many  plants 
have  a  different  atmosphere  due  to  an  increasing  recognition 
of  the  immigrant.  As  an  illustration,  in  a  certain  plant  where 
more  than  a  thousand  Italians  were  employed,  a  condition  pre- 
vailed which  showed  a  lack  of  harmony  between  management 
and  men.  The  management  complained  that  the  immigrant 
workmen  did  not  appreciate  the  lunch  room;  and  that  they 
would  not  learn  English,  even  though  the  classes  were  conducted 
on  part  company  time.  The  men  were  suspicious  of  every 
advance  and  innovation.  It  was  suggested  to  the  management 
that  it  show  some  simple  form  of  recognition,  such  as  an 
appreciation  of  what  the  Italian  national  holiday  meant  to  the 
workmen.  On  that  day  every  member  of  the  management 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  241 

appeared  wearing  a  red  carnation.  The  Italian  workmen  under- 
stood the  act  of  appreciation  and,  from  that  simple  beginning, 
there  has  grown  an  intelligent  and  sympathetic  method  of 
dealing  with  racial  workmen. 

Another  quality,  the  value  of  which  business  has  failed  to 
recognize,  is  the  frugality  which  most  immigrants  practice.  The 
peasant,  trained  in  a  hard  school  of  privation  and  want,  is  not 
prone  to  waste  even  when  he  acquires  plenty  in  America. 

In  a  country  where  the  business  mind  tends  to  act  without 
mature  deliberation,  the  immigrant's  instinct  for  definition  may 
be  utilized  if  put  into  play  in  operations  where  it  will  count  for 
the  most.  Where  the  American  business  mind  is  only  too  ready 
to  accept  new  propositions,  the  immigrant's  greater  power  of 
refusal  may  furnish  a  much  needed  check  to  hasty  action  and 
may  prevent  the  adoption  of  wasteful  and  half-baked  experi- 
ments. His  natural  tendency  to  preserve  traditions  creates  a 
center,  however  ill  adapted  and  uninformed  it  may  be  as  to 
American  conditions,  to  which  appeals  on  labor  and  other  con- 
troversial matters  can  be  referred  for  judgment. 

Vast  as  the  wealth  of  America  is  today,  it  furnishes  no 
excuse  for  the  neglect  of  small  assets,  one  of  which  is  the 
thrift  of  the  immigrant.  His  tendency  to  hoard  his  savings  and 
to  withdraw  them  from  circulation  and  thus  destroy  their 
immediate  usefulness  for  capitalization  purposes  and  also  their 
earning  power  to  himself,  has  not  been  recognized  by  the 
American. 

If  such  qualities  are  among  the  resources  of  immigrants, 
which  are  largely  unused  by  American  business,  it  is  also  true 
that  some  races  bring  to  America  certain  qualities  which  make 
their  incorporation  into  American  institutions  difficult,  and  it  is 
equally  important  to  gauge  their  effect  upon  business. 

The  immigrant  peasant  moves  slowly  away  from  the  beliefs, 
traditions  and  habits  of  his  native  land,  and  scarcely  at  all, 
unless  he  has  the  approval  of  some  recognized  authority.  The 
processes  of  his  mind  are  simple.  His  reactions  to  the  complex 
American  city  are  governed  by  a  tenacity  of  early  ideas  and 
training,  and  by  a  routine  existence  which  is  appallingly  narrow. 
His  absorption  in  the  day's  work,  with  the  ever  present  anxieties 
of  food,  shelter,  and  clothing,  shuts  him  out  from  much  of  the 
new  world  about  him.  He  is  often  filled  with  a  deep-seated 
rancor,  which  is  based  on  centuries  of  oppression  and  race  feuds 


242  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

which  cause  him  to  respond  in  most  unexpected  ways  to  over- 
tures from  the  American.  He  has  a  credulity  growing  out  of 
an  unbridled  imagination  which  prevents  him  from  readily  per- 
ceiving abstract  rights.  His  limitations  in  comprehending  public 
events  in  a  strange  country  create  barriers  through  which  few 
Americans  have  yet  found  the  way.  His  untrained  mind,  unac- 
customed to  reflection  and  with  few  resources  to  fall  back  upon 
to  tide  it  over  the  break  with  the  home  country,  requires  that  the 
simple  ties  of  religion  and  of  physical  restraints  be  established 
immediately  upon  arrival.  In  the  abscence  of  these,  the  immi- 
grant does  not  respond  during  crises  in  a  way  wholly  under- 
standable to  the  American;  and  indicates  a  slower  adaptation 
to  American  business  operation  and  life  which  should  be  reckoned 
with  in  all  industrial  management  experiments. 

But  if  the  American  has  failed  in  his  recognition  of  the 
immigrant's  qualities  and  possible  contributions  to  America,  the 
immigrant  has  no  less  failed  to  recognize  the  finer  traits  of 
the  American  and  to  appreciate  American  achievement.  He  has 
come  to  know  the  dollar  far  better  than  he  has  the  man.  He 
has  come  to  judge  of  American  institutions,  not  by  their  illimit- 
able possibilities  but  by  the  pettiness  of  his  narrow  experiences. 
He  has  been  contemptuous  of  the  literature  of  a  country  which 
he  thinks  is  without  the  richer  traditions  and  simplicity  of  his 
older  world.  He  has  by  comparison  not  .only  disparaged  much 
that  the  new  country  has  to  offer,  but  he  has  acquired  some- 
times a  supercilious  and  even  critical  attitude  concerning  much 
which,  not  having  had  a  hand  in  the  building,  he  does  not  yet 
fully  understand.  He  has  often  mistaken  liberty  for  license 
and  duties  for  privileges. 

Abstract  recognition  of  the  qualities  of  races  and  of  person- 
ality of  their  members  will  not  do  much  for  assimilation,  unless 
a  way  can  be  found  to  make  recognition  not  only  apparent  but 
mutual  by  effecting  an  exchange  of  ideas  and  ideals  between 
the  various  races  and  between  them  and  the  native  born.  Thus 
reciprocity  becomes  the  second  principle  of  assimilation.  Much 
is  now  being  done  to  acquaint  Americans  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  history  and  an  interpretation  of  the  races,  many  of 
whose  members  are  now  in  America.  But  as  yet  we  have  done 
little  with  our  interracial  problems  of  bringing,  for  instance, 
the  ideas  and  ideals  of  the  races  together;  or  of  bringing  about 
an  exchange  of  literature  and  opinion  and  of  combining  them 
with  American  thought  and  expression. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  243 

This  is  essential  if  we  are  to  apply  the  third  principle  of 
participation  which  will  put  into  operation  recognition  and  reci- 
procity between  races  and  between  them  and  Americans.  For 
only  through  the  full  participation  of  each  immigrant  in  Amer- 
ican affairs  will  economic  assimilation  obtain.  It  is  by  drawing 
out  the  full  contribution  which  immigrants  can  make  and  by 
utilizing  their  full  powers,  that  identity  of  interest  is  finally 
established.  This  means  giving  to  them  the  full  opportunity 
to  put  into  practice  their  ideals  of  freedom  as  well  as  their 
capacity  for  work.  This  means  the  elimination  of  discrimina- 
tions, of  a  sense  of  race  superiority,  of  imposition  of  regulations 
without  consultation,  and  of  many  similar  attitudes  of  mind 
which  now  limit  the  immigrants'  participation  in  American  affairs 
and  which  now  turn  their  attention  to  institutions  and  countries 
where  they  can  find  a  fuller  expression. 

Economic  assimilation  of  immigration,  then,  is  the  applica- 
tion of  the  principles  of  recognition,  reciprocity,  and  participation 
by  native  and  foreign  born  in  the  day's  work.  It  has  for  its 
objective  the  irrevocable  integration  of  the  immigrant  into 
American  life  at  every  economic  point. 


NEW  OPPRESSIONS  FOR  OLD  * 

In  America  we  have  inherited  all  the  oppression  problems 
of  Europe  and  out  of  them  we  are  trying  to  build  up  a  cooper- 
ating democracy  in  which  men  may  rise  to  their  full  human 
dignity. 

One-tenth  of  our  population  is  Negro  with  its  actual  or 
potential  psychoses,  and  approximately  one-third  of  the  re- 
mainder is  either  foreign  born  or  of  foreign-born  stock.  Counting 
the  Irish,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  there  are  in  the 
United  States  more  than  twenty  million  people  who  are  more  or 
less  psychopathic  on  account  of  one  or  all  forms  of  oppression 
previously  or  at  present  experienced  in  Europe. 

The  problem  of  merging  these  peoples  of  varying  backgrounds 
and  intense  attitudes  ought  not  to  be,  and  cannot  be,  the 
method  of  the  melting-pot  which  aims  to  make  a  uniform 
society.  It  can  be  solved  only  by  the  paradoxical  method  of 
indirection.  Central  Europe  has  proved  conclusively  that  lan- 

1  Herbert  Adolphus  Miller.  The  Oppression  Psychosis  and  the  Im- 
migrant. Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  January,  1921.  p.  137-44- 


244  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

guage  cannot  be  assimilated  by  attacking  it  directly.  In  my 
opinion  more  progress  would  have  been  made  in  "Americaniza- 
tion" if  no  one  had  ever  thought  of  it,  although  that  does  not 
mean  that  it  is  not  an  advantage  to  promote  humane  relation- 
ships. What  should  be  meant  by  Americanization  is  the  bringing 
of  all  the  people  of  America  into  participation  in  a  progressive 
democracy,  with  tolerance  toward  the  varying  customs  and  beliefs, 
so  as  to  articulate  a  society  rich  in  content  and  orderly  in 
process. 

America  to  the  immigrant  is  an  opportunity  in  those  direc- 
tions in  which  he  has  previously  been  oppressed.  The  great 
danger  is  that  similar  forms  of  oppression  may  be  found  here. 
He  brings  a  complex  of  attitudes  and  he  needs  a  proper  meeting 
of  those  attitudes.  What  he  can  give  us  most  definitely  is  an 
object  lesson  in  political  science.  If  we  heed  it  we  may  almost 
reform  the  world;  if  we  ignore  it  we  shall  help  to  perpetuate 
what  the  war  sought  to  banish  from  the  earth. 

But  the  teaching  of  English  should  be  called  education,  not 
Americanization,  which  is  likely  to  offend  because  it  implies 
the  same  old  culture  domination  which  is  more  hateful  than 
political  domination.  We  should  foster  the  self-respect  of  the 
immigrant  by  respecting  the  language  for  whose  very  existence 
his  people  have  struggled  for  centuries.  As  Chicago  and  Mil- 
waukee have  already  done,  we  should  offer  in  the  high  schools 
courses  in  any  foreign  language  for  which  there  are  children 
demanding  it  in  numbers  sufficient  to  form  a  class.  We  could 
thus  preserve  the  language  possession  already  attained  by  the 
children,  and  also  promote  respect  in  the  children  for  their 
parents ;  and  in  the  parents  we  should  be  dislodging  the  suspicion 
that  America  practices  the  hated  policy  of  Europe.  There  is 
no  other  way  comparable  with  this  for  making  English  respected 
and  loved,  for  it  will  thus  stand  out  as  a  medium  of  opportunity 
and  not  as  an  instrument  of  annihilation. 

In  the  same  way  the  foreign  born  need  their  press.  They 
need  it  because  there  is  no  way  in  which  they  can  learn  the 
news  of  the  world  and  the  facts  and  purposes  of  American  life. 
Even  if  they  learn  English  they  will  not  be  able  to  get  its  spirit 
as  they  still  live  in  that  of  their  native  tongue.  How  many  of 
us  who  have  studied  French  and  German  much  more  than  the 
average  immigrant  will  ever  be  able  to  study  English  would 
choose  a  French  or  German  newspaper  in  preference  to  an 
English  one? 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  245 

We  must  accept  at  their  face  value,  and  with  infinite  patience, 
both  the  normal  and  the  pathological  attitudes.  The  foreign 
born  will  never  forget  the  land  of  their  origin  and  their 
responsibility  for  it  so  long  as  injustice  prevails  there;  the 
identification  of  America  with  the  problems  of  Europe,  there- 
fore, is  so  close  that  we  can  not  escape  our  share  in  the 
responsibility  however  much  we  may  wish.  There  can  be  no 
real  Americanization  of  the  immigrant  unless  there  is  a  real 
league  of  nations,  as  the  symbol  of  a  real  organization  which 
will  substitute  in  Europe  a  reign  of  justice  for  the  reign  of 
immortality.  The  isolation  of  America  is  pure  illusion.  The 
only  way  it  can  be  regained  is  by  identifying  ourselves  with  a 
democratic  reorganization  of  Europe.  If  an  unjust  domination 
is  imposed  on  Germany,  the  many  millions  of  German  stock 
in  America  will  gradually  and  inevitably  develop  a  political 
solidarity  such  as  they  never  knew  before. 

Most  of  the  nations  of  Europe  have  only  one  or  two  inter- 
national problems,  but  we  have  every  one  of  the  problems  of 
all  the  nations  within  our  borders.  To  deny  or  overlook  this  is 
to  pull  down  over  our  own  heads  the  pillars  upon  which  rest 
our  political  and  social  structures.  No  country  in  Europe  is 
so  dependent  on  just  relationships  as  is  the  United  States. 
Fifty  per  cent  of  the  Irish,  twenty  per  cent  of  the  Poles,  and 
a  large  percentage  of  all  the  other  long-oppressed  peoples  are 
in  America  and  constitute  from  one-third  to  two-thirds  of  the 
population  of  many  of  our  leading  centers. 

The  foreign  born  need  a  renewal  of  the  faith  that  has  been 
waning  in  the  freedom  and  democracy  of  America — to  obtain 
which  they  came  to  these  shores.  Through  what  those 
who  came  here  told  their  oppressed  kinsmen  in  Europe,  the 
latter  came  to  look  to  America  for  salvation,  and  through  them 
the  real  purpose  of  America  may  still  be  the  salvation  of 
Europe.  To  discriminate  against  those  who  are  living  among 
us  means  a  perpetuation  in  America  of  the  hatreds  of  the  past 
in  Europe.  We  must  devise  a  political  science  and  social 
practice  which  will  give  them  the  self-expression  here  that  self- 
determination  aims  to  give  in  Europe. 

Just  as  finally  the  American  authorities  tried  to  mobilize 
the  attitudes  of  the  immigrants  for  purposes  of  war,  so  they 
must  mobilize  them  for  peace.  Foolish  and  frantic  methods  of 
Americanization  should  yield  to  the  realization  that  we  are 
dealing  with  a  psychological  and  moral  problem,  and  that  a 


246  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

league  of  nations  is  potential  in  the  United  States.  If  we 
could  organize  the  representatives  of  the  countries  of  Europe 
who  are  in  America  behind  a  program  for  a  reconstructed 
world,  we  should  have  an  instrument  for  world-order  whose 
potentiality  can  not  be  measured.  Instead,  we  hide  our  heads 
in  the  sand  and  think  to  make  them  forget  by  teaching  them 
English ! 

There  is  no  panacea  for  dealing  with  the  immigrant  simpler 
than  that  required  for  the  whole  world.  And  the  existing  deep- 
seated  psychoses  can  only  be  cured  through  a  long  process  of 
time.  We  must  deal  as  wise  physicians  with  a  soul-sick  people 
for  whose  trouble  we  have  no  responsibility  but  who  have 
become  an  integral  part  of  our  lives. 


ADAPTATION  OF  AMERICANIZATION  TO 
THE  ALIEN'S  MAKE-UP  1 

The  night  school  is  praiseworthy,  but  does  not  give  the 
immigrant  a  fair  chance  to  learn.  After  a  man  has  labored 
for  ten  hours  at  monotonous,  tiresome  work,  the  fatigue  toxins 
have  dulled  the  brain.  Only  the  exceptional  individuals  among 
the  unskilled  men  have  enough  initiative  left  to  attend  school 
at  night.  Further,  the  night  school  method  gives  an  outsider 
the  impression  that  the  physical  work,  that  the  unskilled  immi- 
grant can  do,  is  the  thing  that  is  of  paramount  importance. 
It  appears  as  though  we  consider  his  mental  and  spiritual 
development  secondary.  If  the  choice  had  to  be  made  between 
giving  the  illiterate  foreigner  the  poorest  or  the  best  hour  of 
the  day  to  secure  his  training  in  citizenship,  the  best  hour 
should  be  his,  not  only  for  his  sake  but  for  ours  as  well.  In 
order  that  all  the  workers  may  be  reached,  it  will  be  necessary 
for  the  school  to  go  to  the  factory.  According  to  this  method, 
the  alien  is  given  a  half  hour  or  an  hour  per  day  without  wage- 
reduction,  whereby  under  the  direction  of  public  school  teachers 
who  go  to  the  shops,  he  may  pursue  the  study  of  English  and 
of  citizenship.  The  public  school  system  furnishes  the  teachers 
and  the  equipment;  and  the  employers,  the  space,  artificial  light, 

1  Emory  S.  Bogardus.  Essentials  of  Americanization.  .  p.  223-5.  The 
Foreign-Born.  University  of  Southern  California  Press.  Los  Angeles. 
1919. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  247 

their  cooperative  interest,  and  perhaps  one-half  hour  of  the 
time  of  the  men  without  wage- reduction.  Employers  are  learn- 
ing that  such  welfare  work  is  economically  profitable. 

The  forces  of  religious  education  must  greatly  increase 
their  efforts,  or  else  hundreds  of  thousands  of  immigrants  will 
lose  their  religious  faiths  and  beliefs.  If  religion  is  a  vital 
force  in  human  life,  as  is  generally  believed,  then  the  public 
educational  forces  must  face  squarely  the  problem  and  introduce 
adequate  training  in  the  fundamentals  of  religion  in  the  public 
school  system. 

The  teaching  of  English,  of  civics,  and  of  American  ideals 
must  be  made  so  worth-while  and  attractive  that  all  immigrants 
will  desire  to  avail  themselves  of  these  opportunities.  Employers 
must  feel  their  responsibilities  in  regard  to  increasing  the  indus- 
trial efficiency  and  civic  earnestness  of  their  immigrant  em- 
ployees to  the  extent  that  they  (the  employers)  will  give  at 
least  a  portion  of  the  day's  time  on  pay  so  that  the  foreign-born 
adult  may  have  a  fair  chance  to  learn  the  rudimentary  principles 
of  Americanism.  The  public  must  see  the  need  of  giving  the 
honest  but  unlearned  immigrant  a  cordial  handshake,  sympathetic 
glances  of  the  eye,  and  full  opportunities  for  a  self-expression 
that  is  in  harmony  with  the  best  American  principles. 

If  we  protect  the  immigrant  from  exploitation  and  insist 
on  better  standards  of  living,  of  sanitation,  of  recreation,  of 
education  for  him,  he  will  almost  automatically  become  a  good 
American.  If  we  give  him  a  cordial  welcome,  a  practical 
fraternalism,  and  democratic  opportunities  in  our  every-day  life, 
he  will  gladly  give  his  all  to  America.  As  a  class,  the  immigrants 
are  teachable  and  patriotic.  Often  they  appreciate  better  than 
we  the  meaning  of  freedom.  When  they  fairly  understand 
Americanism,  they  are  quick  to  repudiate  autocracy  and  to  push 
forward  the  cause  of  democracy. 


FUTILE    DEVICES    VERSUS    FUNDAMENTAL 
SOCIAL  CONTACTS1 

To  many  interested  in  Americanization,  the  social  and  polit- 
ical   assimilation    of    the    immigrant    appears    as    a    process    of 

1  Carol   Aronovici.     Americanization,     p.    35-6.     Keller   Publishing   Com- 
pany.    St.  Paul,  Minn.   1919. 


248  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

education.  Teach  the  foreigner  the  English  language,  educate 
him  about  American  standards,  inform  him  about  American 
political  institutions,  impress  him  with  the  opportunities  afforded 
to  him  by  the  United  States,  preach  to  him  about  the  moral 
codes  of  the  American  people,  make  him  feel  his  responsibility 
toward  America,  these  are  the  ways  and  means  by  which  we 
expect  to  achieve  the  task  that  is  before  us. 

While  no  one  would  venture  to  discount  the  value  of  the 
educational  processes  outlined  above,  they  imply  a  thoroughly 
developed  educational  system,  leisure  time  during  which  this 
educational  program  can  be  carried  out  and  a  mental  and 
physical  receptivity  in  the  immigrant  attained  through  a  favor- 
able economic  and  social  environment. 

To  assume  that  education  without  adequate  control  of 
environment  will  accomplish  the  assimilation  of  the  immigrant 
groups  is  to  fail  to  realize  the  value  of  direct,  personal  contact 
as  against  bookish  and  oratorical  forcible  feeding. 

With  housing  conditions  unsuited  for  the  attainment  of  the 
American  ideal  of  home  life;  with  low  wages,  irregularity  of 
employment,  bad  working  conditions,  absence  of  adequate 
insurance  against  sickness,  death,  accident,  and  unemployment; 
with  an  enforced  sectionalism  prompted  by  national  and  racial 
discrimination  and  the  constant  and  entirely  too  obvious  effort 
to  Americanize  consciously  or  unconsciously,  prompted  by  a 
sense  of  fear  or  a  sense  of  superiority  on  the  part  of  the  native 
elements,  we  cannot  expect  a  sudden  change  of  mind  in  the 
immigrant  without  reservation  and  with  full  confidence  in  the 
honesty  of  purpose  of  those  most  active  in  Americanization 
work. 

The  social  agencies  which  have  fought  against  child  labor, 
which  have  made  every  effort  to  improve  living  conditions,  the 
organizations  interested  in  the  promotion  of  social  insurance, 
and  all  the  other  societies,  organizations,  and  agencies  working 
toward  the  improvement  of  living  conditions  in  this  country, 
have  done  more  in  the  past  and  will  continue  in  the  future  to 
do  more  toward  the  Americanization  of  the  immigrant  than 
all  the  Americanization  leagues,  societies,  committees,  commis- 
sions, boards,  etc.,  could  do  under  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stances. Americanization  without  social  amelioration  is  futile; 
assimilation  without  friendly  social  service  is  inconceivable 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  249 

SOUND    INDUSTRIAL    ENVIRONMENT    THE 
VITAL  AMERICANIZING  -INFLUENCE  * 

After  all,  we  really  cannot  Americanize  the  alien;  he  must 
do  that  for  himself.  It  is  for  us  to  show  the  way;  and  as 
Americanization  requires  an  atmosphere  of  mutual  confidence,  it 
is  absolutely  essential  to  win  the  good-will  of  those  whom  we 
would  influence.  We  must  look  for  the  best  methods,  and  try 
to  sum  up  in  a  practical  way  just  what  is  and  what  is  not 
desirable. 

The  Importance  of  First  Impressions 

When  the  immigrant  comes  to  this  country,  he  brings  with 
him  the  desire  to  enjoy  the  freedom  and  reputed  good-will  of 
America.  Whatever  his  nationality,  the  lonesome  stranger  is 
ready  to  respond  to  the  least  sign  of  cordiality  and  consideration. 
Sympathetic  assistance  in  learning  the  habits,  customs,  and 
traditions  of  the  new  country  will  bring  out  the  best  in  him. 
If  he  is  to  become  an  integral  part  of  our  industrial  structure 
he  must  not  be  treated  as  an  interloper,  but  as  a  friend.  He 
must  find  it  worth  while  to  make  this  country  his  permanent 
home  and  in  doing  so  must  understand  our  ideals  and  see  the 
relationship  of  our  industrial  and  political  organization  to  his 
own  job  and  his  personal  welfare. 

These  facts  are  appreciated  and  utilized  by  such  concerns 
as  the  Schwartzenbach-Huber  Company  which  is  carrying  on 
an  Americanization  campaign  in  its  New  England  plants  as  a 
part  of  the  campaign  for  labor  maintenance.  The  company 
believes  that  more  can  be  done  to  establish  the  right  spirit  at 
the  time  when  the  foreign-born  worker  receives  his  first  impres- 
sions than  later  when  his  opinions  have  been  formed.  Its 
policy,  therefore,  is  to  treat  the  newcomer  with  the  courtesy 
and  consideration  with  which  an  American  would  desire  to  be 
treated  in  a  strange  country,  and  American  employees  of  the 
plant  are  encouraged  to  make  their  foreign  co-workers  feel 
at  home. 

1  Daniel  Bloomfield.  Labor  Maintenance,  p.  125-31.  The  Ronald  Press 
Company.  New  York.  iqao. 


250  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

Managerial  Attitude— A  Determining  Factor 
The  real  work  of  industrial  Americanization  begins  with 
employers,  foremen,  and  bosses,  for  their  attitude  is  the  deter- 
mining factor  in  the  success  of  any  Americanization  plan.  To 
the  foreigner,  they  are  the  persons  who  represent  this  country 
and  American  ideals.  These  men  must  get  away  from  the 
notion  that  foreign-born  workers  are  merely  "wops,"  "mutts,"  and 
men  without  intelligence.  A  manager  of  a  large  industry  in 
speaking  of  his  foreign  employees  to  the  author  called  them 
"animals  who  want  nothing  but  money,"  and  another,  expressing 
his  labor  needs,  exclaimed,  "We  want  men  who  don't  use  their 
brains;  we  want  foreigners!"  How  little  did  these  men  know 
of  the  forces  at  work  among  these  "foreigners"  to  capitalize 
their  man-power  and  help  "show  the  bosses  that  we  are  human 
beings  and  intend  to  take  the  control  of  industry  away  from  the 
slave-drivers!".  .  . 

The  Americanization  Committee 

Like  other  service  work,  Americanization  depends  for  its 
success  upon  the  full  cooperation  of  all  the  parties  in  the 
industrial  enterprise.  The  alien  should  be  given  a  place  in  the 
councils  dealing  with  this  type  of  plant  activity.  One  of  the 
best  methods  of  handling  this  work  is  through  a  committee 
of  workers  and  representatives  of  the  management,  which 
should,  if  possible,  represent  every  nationality  in  the  plant.  We 
are  always  in  danger  of  overlooking  human  distinctions  of 
importance  when  we  generalize  about  people  in  a  wholesome 
way.  All  aliens  are  not  alike,  though  some  of  their  problems 
may  be;  nor  all  nationalities  in  daily  contact  likely  to  conform 
to  the  rough  classifications  we  may  use  concerning  them.  The 
Americanization  Committee  of  the  United  States  Rubber  Com- 
pany plant  at  Naugatuck,  Connecticut,  is  composed  of  two  men 
selected  from  each  racial  group.  They  have  done  a  good  deal 
to  stimulate  activity  among  foreign-born  workers. 

The  committee,  thus  constituted,  should  hold  meetings  often 
to  discuss  plans  and  procedure.  Such  representation  will  go 
a  long  distance  to  bridge  the  gap  between  the  management  and 
the  new  Americans.  They  will  receive  this  attention  as  a  sign 
of  respect  and  consideration,  and  their  appreciation  will  take 
the  practical  form  of  helping  to  keep  up  attendance,  interest, 
and  loyalty  for  the  project.  Moreover  they  will  now  and  again 
offer  hints  and  counsel  of  utmost  practical  usefulness. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  251 

Where  the  above  suggested  method  has  been  tried,  an 
enthusiasm  has  been  developed  which  compensates  the  manage- 
ment many  times  over.  In  New  Britain,  Connecticut,  for 
example,  a  number  of  the  factories  are  cooperating  in  this 
work,  and  have  committees  some  of  whose  functions  are: 

1.  To  assist  all  employees  in  acquiring  the  English  language. 

2.  To  distribute  advertising  leaflets  and  posters  in  order  to 
stimulate  evening  school  attendance. 

3.  To    plan    for    special    recognition    of    those    who    attend 
evening  classes,  and  to  encourage  absent  students  to  return. 

4.  To   promote   citizenship   interest   among   employees. 

5.  To  enlist  foremen's  interest  and  to  help  them  develop  a 
more  thoughtful  and  sympathetic  attitude. 

6.  To  provide  opportunities  for  social  contact,  through  such 
activities  as  community  singing  and  so  on. 

The  Influence  of  Plant  Spirit 

The  best  and  most  lasting  achievements  in  Americanization 
work  have  resulted  from  indirect,  rather  than  direct  influences. 
If  the  spirit  and  surroundings  of  the  plant  definitely  suggest 
Americanism,  a  large  part  of  the  work  has  been  accomplished, 
and  a  fertile  soil  for  further  successful  work  has  been  prepared. 
Posters,  flags,  first-rate  and  cleanly  surroundings,  produce  an 
atmosphere  distinctive  of  American  work  places.  This  environ- 
ment is  in  sharp  contrast  to  that  which  many  an  alien  has  been 
accustomed  to  abroad.  As  the  proper  atmosphere  has  a  direct 
bearing  on  the  success  of  any  Americanization  plan,  every 
executive,  every  foreman,  and  every  employee  must  be  impressed 
with  the  matter  of  maintaining  American  standards  with  regard 
to  the  immediate  surroundings  of  shop,  mine,  and  mill.  This 
requires  attention  to  detail,  but  the  effort  will  bring  better 
discipline,  and  greater  care  of  tools  and  other  property.  Right 
plant  relationships  and  an  interest  in  the  constructive  educational 
work  of  the  organization  will  also  be  manifest. 

Getting  Behind  the  Returns 

A  point  to  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  in  checking  up 
Americanization  projects  is  the  inadequacy  of  routine  statistics, 
necessary  though  they  may  be.  Figures  can  never  tell  us  how 
the  people  influenced  by  various  projects  really  have  been  affected. 
There  has  been  a  tendency  to  make  much  of  classroom  records. 
It  is  important  to  go  behind  the  returns.  To  accomplish  this, 


252  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

a  closer  contact  with  the  groups  being  Americanized  is  required 
than  is  always  found.  These  groups  have  something  to  say,  if 
wise  methods  are  used  in  getting  at  their  ideas.  At  times,  they 
are  treated  in  too  mechanical  a  fashion,  and  much  helpful 
counsel  is  lost,  which  if  gathered  in  time  would  do  much  to 
help  improve  the  work.  Every  graduated  group  should  be 
treated  as  an  alumni  group  whose  interest  in  the  future  good 
of  the  service  that  has  helped  them  is  expected  for  the  sake 
of  others  who  come  after  them.  There  is  cumulative  good-will 
in  such  a  treatment  of  the  groups,  and  the  assurance  of  continued 
improvement  and  larger  effectiveness  of  the  whole  enterprise. 

A   California  Commission 

A  few  years  ago  the  state  of  California  established  a  com- 
mission on  housing  and  immigration.  This  commission  has  been 
a  great  success  because  from  the  very  outset  its  members  sought 
to  see  the  immigrant  problem  not  only  from  their  own  stand- 
point, but  from  that  of  the  immigrant.  They  believed  in  him; 
they  felt  and  showed  their  respect  for  his  customs  and  his 
traditions.  Nothing  they  ever  said'  caused  any  loss  of  self- 
esteem  on  the  part  of  those  they  sought  to  help.  By  building 
on  the  loyalties  that  were  natural  to  the  alien  they  placed  the 
new  loyalties  they  sought  to  instil  on  a  much  stronger  foundation. 

The  new  environment  of  the  alien  was  a  matter  of  large 
concern  to  the  commission.  Was  the  local  environment,  they 
inquired,  such  as  helped  or  retarded  real  Americanization?  Were 
influences  at  work  on  the  alien  which,  unless  checked,  would 
embitter  his  spirit  and  develop  in  him  a  hostile  attitude  toward 
the  new  land?  In  other  words,  those  practical  Calif ornians 
threw  mouth-filling  phrases  aside  and  faced  the  facts  squarely. 
They  saw  that  poor  housing  was  an  enemy  of  Americanization ; 
that  abuses  and  oppressions  of  various  kinds  suffered  by  the 
alien  at  the  hands  of  both  his  own  more  sophisticated  country- 
men and  those  who  called  themselves  Americans  were  doing 
more  than  anything  else  to  alienate  and  prejudice  him.  These 
things  had  to  be  dealt  with  in  a  sensible  manner  if  American- 
ization could  make  any  headway  at  all. 


XIV.  FACTORS  IN  INDUSTRIAL 
EDUCATION 

THE  NEED  FOR  POLICIES  OF  INDUSTRIAL 
EDUCATION  l 

The  business  of  the  vocational  teacher  is  to  make  industry 
interesting.  Very  few  laborers  can  reach  the  top.  On  this 
account  some  people  despair  of  ever  making  work  interesting. 
They  feel  that,  since  the  workers  are  compelled  to  settle  down 
in  grooves,  industry  can  have  no  meaning  or  incentive  for  them. 
If  this  conclusion  is  true,  then  the  situation  is  hopeless.  For, 
as  far  as  we  can  see,  the  forces  of  steam,  electricity,  trans- 
portation, are  driving  industry  into  large  concerns.  Twenty 
thousand  men  in  one  factory  can  make  automobiles  cheaper 
than  one  thousand.  Room  at  the  top  is  lessening  and  the  number 
of  workers  tied  into  grooves  is  increasing. 

The  outlook  is  menacing  for  the  worker,  for  industry,  for 
the  nation.  The  workers  lose  their  interest  in  industry  just  at 
the  time  when  they  become  more  powerful  than  ever  before  in 
controlling  industry  through  labor  organization  or  politics. 
Without  interest  in  their  work  they  cannot  be  expected  to  pay 
attention  or  have  any  care  for  the  economy,  efficiency,  or  dis- 
cipline, without  which  business  goes  bankrupt. 

The  inventors,  the  engineers,  the  business  men,  have  brought 
on  this  situation.  They  have  mastered  the  forces  of  nature  and 
will  increase  their  mastery.  They  have  converted  nature  into 
capital  and  labor  into  an  army.  The  problem  of  capital  is  the 
physical  sciences — chemistry,  electricity,  physics,  biology.  J  The 
problem  of  labor  is  the  human  science,  psychologyj  If  it  is  the 
engineer  who  is  the  expert  in  physical^science,  it  is  the  educator 
who  becomes  expert  in  psychology.  *The  future  of  industry  is 
psychologicalA  The  inventors,  engineers,  business  men  of  the 

1  John  R.  Commons.  Industrial  Good-will,  p.  139-42.  McGraw  Hill 
Book  Company.  New  York.  1910. 


254  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

future  will  be  industrial  psychologists. {^Industry  must  be  educa- 
tional, and  it  is  this  very  problem  of  opening  up  lines  of 
promotion  where  physical  science  has  closed  them  that  is  the 
problem  of  industrial  education.^ 

For  interest  in  one's  work  does  not  depend  on  a  remote 
expectation  of  reaching  the  top.  It  is  the  next  step  that  is 
interesting.  The  next  step  means  accomplishment,  means  over- 
coming obstacles  that  are  not  hopeless,  means  initiative,  means 
thinking  on  the  job.  To  the  mere  "intellectual"  who  ponders 
over  the  labor  problem,  there  is  no  hope  if  there  is  no  room  at 
the  top.  Hence  efforts  to  interest  workers  even  in  the  next 
step  are  despaired  of.  To  the  business  man  and  the  engineer 
whose  opinions  are  formed  in  mastering  the  physical  sciences, 
the  worker  is  often  preferred  who  does  not  think  or  talk  back. 
But  to  the  educator  it  is  these  very  qualities  which  others  reject 
that  are  his  problem  to  b'e  worked  out.  They  are  the  psycho- 
logical problems  of  industry.  If  industry  has  lessened  the 
chances  of  promotion  it  is  the  educator's  business  to  open  them 
up  again.  He  must  work  out  lines  of  advancement  that  may 
serve  as  a  substitute,  at  least,  for  the  lost  chances  of  promotion. 
He  must  know  how  to  suggest  these  lines  of  advancement  to 
the  employer  and  the  worker  and  to  work  them  out  practically. 
If  he  sees  workers  confined  to  "enervating"  jobs  he  must  know 
how  to  get  them  "energized."  And,  just  as  the  business  man 
has  employed  and  made  use  in  the  past  of  the  inventor  or 
engineer  who  reduces  the  physical  sciences  to  practice,  so  must 
he  enlist  the  inventive  educator  in  making  his  business  edu- 
cational. 

Then  may  we  expect  that  industrial  education  will  take 
its  proper  place.  Schools  and  industry  will  dove-tail.  Neither 
employer,  laborer,  nor  educator  will  dominate.  The  educator 
will  come  out  from  his  seclusion  and  will  become  industrial 
without  being  commercialized,  for  he  will  bring  to  industry  the 
science  of  psychology.  Business  will  become  educational  without 
being  academic,  for  it  will  have  its  daily  problems  of  education 
which  cannot  wait  for  a  remote  future.  And  labor  will  become 
more  generally  interested  in  the  work,  in  addition  to  the  com- 
pensation. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  255 


PROCESSES   OF   TRAINING1 

Having  the  training  program  under  organized  direction  and 
control  the  spoiled  work  so  common  with  new  help  drops  to  a 
remarkably  low  level,  and  the  instruction  being  in  accordance 
with  factory  requirements,  production  returns  started  with  the 
first  day  of  training. 

Many  manufacturers  have  remarked  concerning  the  noticeable 
effect  of  training  upon  the  contentment  of  their  workers  and 
the  corresponding  decrease  in  labor  turnover.  They  have  sug- 
gested that  previous  to  this,  much  of  their  turnover  was  due  to 
the  fact  that  many  employees  went  on  the  job  not  only  incom- 
petent, but  also  not  well  advised  concerning  either  it  or  their 
relations  to  the  factory.  This  lack  of  understanding  breeds 
discontent  and  the  consequent  shifting  to  other  jobs. 

In  factories  where  few  new  employees  were  hired  the  training 
department  afforded  an  excellent  medium  for  improving  those 
men  and  women  who  were  below  standard,  either  in  the  quality 
or  the  quantity  of  their  production.  When  the  older  employees 
concerned  appreciated  the  significance  of  this  there  was  usually 
a  scramble  to  grasp  the  opportunity. 

Several  plants  even  required  that  their  inspectors  also  be 
sent  to  the  training  room  to  make  under  instruction  the  parts 
they  were  daily  inspecting.  The  decrease  in  "come  backs"  from 
their  inspection  following  such  a  "recess"  was  noticed  almost 
immediately. 

In  a  large  manufacturing  establishment  the  salesmen  who 
had  been  called  in  for  their  regular  spring  meeting  received 
several  day's  instruction  in  making  the  product  they  were  repre- 
senting while  on  the  road. 

Many  factories  have  found  the  training  room  of  great 
assistance  to  their  planning  departments.  New  tools  and  methods 
have  been  tried  out  to  advantage  before  introducing  them  on  the 
factory  floor  thus  not  interferring  with  the  production  schedules 
or  causing  other  embarrassment.  In  some  places  the  training 
room  has  even  been  called  "the  laboratory  or  the  planning 
room." 

1  James  F.  Johnson.  Possibilities  in  Training  Factory  Help.  Indus- 
trial Management.  September,  1919.  P.  221-4. 


256  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

While  it  was  not  a  difficult  matter  to  sell  manufacturers  on 
this  method  of  training  still  there  were  a  few  who  inquired  as 
to  "the  cost  of  the  thing"  more  particularly  than  they  did  its 
benefits. 

Conditions  for  Good  Training 

For  a  real  training  proposition,  the  separate  training  room 
has  proven  most  successful.  Good  teaching  necessitates  a 
certain  amount  of  privacy  and  it  must  be  free  from  distracting 
influence.  Besides  this,  the  separate  training  room  affords  a 
constant  supply  of  trained  workers,  and  does  not  interfere  with 
the  factory  schedules  as  does  training  upon  the  floor.  It  is 
far  better  suited  for  upgrading  employees  below  standard,  as 
well  as  better  suited  for  investigation  work  of  the  planning 
department.  From  an  economical  standpoint  there  can  be  little 
question.  The  many  records  showing  that  separate  training 
departments  pay  for  themselves  are  sufficient  proof  of  this. 

In  most  cases  it  was  found  that  the  results  obtained  depended 
primarily  upon  how  the  instruction  was  given.  It  required  a 
carefully  worked  out  policy  with  well  planned  methods  of 
instruction  and  supervision,  where  the  instruction  itself  was 
given  upon  regular  shop  equipment  and  the  learners  were  required 
to  make  the  factory  product,  or  its  parts,  under  the  direction 
of  a  capable  instructor,  and  up  to  the  same  standards  and 
requirements  as  would  be  demanded  of  them  when  transferred 
to  the  factory  proper.  This  furnished  ideal  teaching  conditions, 
but  necessitated  that  it  be  in  the  hands  of  a  thoroughly  capable 
director.  Men  expert  in  their  trades  did  not  always  make 
good  instructors,  let  alone  directors.  The  teaching  field  was 
new  to  most  tradesmen  and  in  many  instances  it  was  necessary 
to  give  these  men  special  training  in  their  new  job.  They  took 
to  it  well,  and  it  was  found  that  better  success  was  obtained 
with  these  men  than  with  men  originally  trained  as  teachers 
but  who  needed  special  assistance  in  the  trade  work. 

Spirit  of  Self-Expression 

j  Training   recognizes   the   latent   qualities   in   men,   also  their 

desire  for  self-expression.  Workmen  the  world  over  crave  an 
opportunity  to  "get  somewhere."  When  this  quality  is  properly 
directed  a  fine  type  of  employee  is  sure  to  result.  Statistics 
show  that  help  trained  in  this  manner  are  quite  contented  and 
the  labor  turnover  among  them  is  remarkably  low. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  257 

As  a  means  of  improving  the  ability  of  workmen  who  are 
below  standard,  yet  not  quite  bad  enough  to  fire,  the  training 
room  has  many  times  proven  itself  most  valuable.  Special 
instruction  given  to  this  class  of  workmen  has  often  increased 
their  production  seventy-five  per  cent  with  a  corresponding  de- 
crease in  their  spoiled  work.  These  men  seem  to  take  a  new 
lease  on  life,  and  the  reaction  upon  their  fellow  employees  is 
beneficial. 

The  privilege  that  is  offered  is  eagerly  accepted  and  the  men 
show  their  appreciation  in  their  daily  work. 

Very  few  workmen  look  for  charities  from  their  employers. 
They  feel  that  they  have  ability  to  sell  and  are  anxious  to 
dispose  of  it  to  advantage.  It  is  true  that  whether  or  not 
this  ability  is  fully  developed,  is  not  always  considered.  Yet 
the  fact  remains,  nevertheless,  and  it  is  that  which  should  be 
considered.  To  sort  these  men  according  to  their  abilities,  or  to 
develop  these  abilities  in  others  is  the  manufacturer's  choice. 

The  process  is  highly  desirable  as  well  as  profitable  for 
both  parties.  But  aside  from  this  is  not  such  procedure  quite 
in  line  with  the  true  meaning  of  what  we  hear  concerning  the 
recognition  of  the  great  human  element  in  labor?  Those  manu- 
facturers who  have  training  departments  feel  it  is. 


FUNDAMENTALS  OF  TRAINING1 

The  experience  of  the  Recording  and  Computing  Machines 
Company  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  affords  a  good  example  of  the  way 
in  which  vestibule  schools  were  established  during  the  war  as 
well  as  an  excellent  statement  of  some  of  the  fundamental 
principles  involved  in  their  management.  This  factory  employed 
in  1918  about  eight  thousand  six  hundred  people,  of  whom  five 
thousand  were  women.  Many  of  the  operatives  were  engaged 
in  manufacturing  Russian  combination  time  fuses,  the  work  being 
done  in  aluminum,  brass,  and  various  other  metals,  and  requiring 
accurate  machining  and  close  measurements.  Manufacturing 
limits  ran  as  low  as  five  thousandths  of  an  inch  in  metals  quite 
difficult  to  work. 

1  Roy   W.    Kelley.     Training  Industrial   Workers,     p.    154-9,    163-5.     The 
Ronald   Press   Company.   New    York.    1920. 


258  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

Meeting  a  Skilled  Labor  Shortage 

The  supply  of  labor  in  Dayton  in  1917  seemed  inadequate 
to  meet  either  existing  or  future  demands.  Men  were  scarce 
and  the  few  who  were  available  were  either  in  clerical  occupations 
or  belonged  to  trades  not  at  all  allied  to  the  mechanical  work 
the  plant  had  to  offer,  such  as  brick  laying,  structural  steel 
working  and  masonry.  The  men  engaged  in  these  trades,  intel- 
ligent and  accustomed  to  high  wages,  were  naturally  unwilling 
to  accept  other  war  work  at  laborer's  pay,  and  yet  were  unable 
to  bridge  the  gap  caused  by  their  ignorance  of  mechanical 
methods.  It  was  the  function  of  the  new  vestibule  school  to 
train  these  men  and  at  the  same  time  to  make  use  of  the  large 
number  of  women  who  were  eager  to  do  their  part  in  winning 
the  war. 

Forming  a  Training  Department 

The  training  department  was  located  in  a  well-lighted  room 
entirely  separate  from  the  factory.  In  it  were  placed  all  of 
the  different  types  of  machines  upon  which  training  was  con- 
sidered necessary,  such  as  hand-turret  screw  machines,  auto- 
matic screw  machines,  thread  millers,  drill  presses,  and  special 
machinery  designed  and  built  by  the  company.  In  addition  there 
were  the  necessary  benches  and  fixtures  for  teaching  inspection 
and  assembly.  The  employment  department  was  charged  with 
the  selection  of  employees,  and  when  students  had  finished  their 
training  in  the  school,  requisitions  were  filled  for  the  factory 
departments  through  the  same  office.  The  foremen  were  never 
permitted  to  employ  people  nor  were  they  allowed  the  right  of 
discharge  without  the  sanction  of  the  employment  department. 

Selecting  Instructors 

For  the  head  of  the  training  school  a  workman  was  selected 
who  was  an  expert  mechanic  and  operator,  but  the  teachers  in 
charge  of  female  learners  were  all  women.  Each  teacher 
handled  from  three  to  five  girls  at  a  time,  the  number  depending 
upon  the  nature  of  the  work.  Every  student  went  through  a 
preliminary  study  of  the  character  of  the  metal  being  used,  the 
nature  and  functions  of  the  tools  she  was  expected  to  handle, 
and  the  method  of  operating  the  machine.  When  the  new 
employee  started  the  work  for  herself,  she  was  carefully  super- 


\ 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  259 

vised,  her  errors  were  corrected  in  a  kindly  manner,  aiid  every 
encouragement  was  given  to  help  her  to  make  as  rapid  progress 
as  possible. 

Confidence  Inspired 

Before  the  training  department  was  started  it  was  noticed 
that  many  new  girls  upon  coming  into  the  shop  were  extremely 
nervous.  They  would  often  break  down  and  wish  to  leave  the 
shop  at  once  because  of  the  fear  of  the  large  machine  tools 
which  appeared  to  them  so  dangerous  and  complicated.  Their 
natural  fear  of  the  shop  was  multiplied  by  the  fact  that  they 
were  expected  to  begin  their  work  in  the  midst  of  the  rush  and 
roar  of  the  factory.  In  a  separate  shop  under  women  teachers, 
confidence  was  gained  at  once.  It  was  only  natural  for  beginners 
to  feel  that  if  other  women  could  accomplish  the  work  without 
danger  that  they  too  could  learn  it  rapidly. 

Purpose  Limited 

No  effort  was  made  to  train  for  more  than  one  particular 
job.  The  training  was  not  advertised  as  general  mechanical 
education,  but  every  pupil  understood  that  she  was  being  taught 
in  a  very  short  period  and  that  if  she  came  to  have  any  mechan- 
ical skill  it  would  have  to  be  acquired  through  her  work  in  the 
shop.  In  less  than  ten  days  the  girls  were  trained  to  operate 
hand-turret  lathes  on  work  requiring  a  high  degree  of  precision, 
and  it  is  claimed  by  the  company  that  these  girls  when  entering 
the  shop  attacked  the  work  on  their  machines  with  vigor  and 
confidence.  In  less  than  three  weeks  they  reached  a  high 
average  of  production  and  began  to  earn  the  bonuses  distributed 
under  a  graduated  system  of  pay. 

Continuation  Training 

The  training  of  the  vestibule  school  was  continued  in  the 
factory  by  carefully  selected  men  known  as  "job  bosses."  Each 
of  these  supervisors  had  under  his  control  only  a  small  group 
of  persons,  the  number  ranging  from  seven  to  thirty  according 
to  the  difficulty  of  the  operation.  The  pay  of  the  job  boss 
depended  in  part  upon  the  average  bonus  of  all  the  operatives, 
and  these  men  were  carefully  supervised  to  make  sure  that 
they  understood  the  losses  to  the  company  which  might  be  caused 
by  injuring  the  health  or  welfare  of  those  under  their  care. 


26o  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

Results  Achieved 

The  following  statements  made  in  Industrial  Management, 
May,  1918,  by  C.  U.  Carpenter  of  the  Recording  and  Computing 
Machines  Company  indicate  some  of  the  results  achieved  after 
only  a  few  months'  experience  with  the  training  department: 

We  have  a  large  assembly  department,  employing  over  two 
thousand  girls.  Two  sets  of  prominent  engineers  who  investi- 
gated the  possibilities  of  production  from  this  plant  reported 
that  the  best  output  possible  from  this  assembly  division  was 
fifteen  thousand  complete  fuses  per  day  in  two  shifts.  By 
thoroughly  training  the  girls  we  have  been  able  to  reach  an 
average  production  of  thirty-eight  thousand  per  day  in  one  shift. 

In  addition  to  the  fuse  work,  our  company  is  building 
optical  instruments  of  a  character  that  requires  the  greatest 
precision,  much  of  the  work  being  held  within  limits  of  twenty- 
five  hundred  thousandths  of  an  inch.  This  work  requires  not 
only  close  manufacturing,  but  also  most  careful  work  in  lens- 
making  and  grinding. 

Before  beginning  this  work,  the  organization  made  a  minute 
survey  of  each  operation,  no  matter  how  small,  involved  in  the 
production  of  these  instruments.  This  included  all  the  manu- 
facturing, assembly  and  lens-grinding  work.  This  company  was 
compelled  to  build  its  own  lens-grinding  machinery,  as  none 
could  be  purchased  in  this  country.  When  we  finished  this 
survey,  we  had  before  us  a  description  of  exactly  what  was 
required  on  each  operation.  There  was  necessarily  much  work 
that  was  entirely  new  to  us,  as  well  as  to  other  American 
manufacturers,  owing  to  the  lack  of  experience  in  this  work  in 
the  United  States. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  we  were  advised  that  it  would 
be  impossible  for  us  to  get  any  high-grade  lens-grinders  in  the 
United  States,  and  many  dire  prophecies  were  made  as  to  our 
probable  failure.  However,  we  started  the  training  school  in 
the  grinding  of  lenses,  and  have  developed  a  high-grade  body 
of  lens-grinders,  both  men  and  women,  within  the  past  six 
weeks. 

We  produce  our  base  forgings  of  aluminum  on  hand-turret 
screw  machines.  On  this  particular  forging  there  are  fifty-six 
gauging  points,  with  allowable  limits  on  different  operations 
ranging  from  five  hundred  thousandths  of  an  inch  to  two  thou- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  261 

sanths  of  an  inch.  In  January,  1916,  the  average  production  of 
thirty-one  women  employees  was  eight,  pieces  per  hour.  While 
the  operatives  were  apparently  busy  at  this  rate  of  production,  my 
experiments  showed  that  there  should  be  produced  from  those 
machines  as  a  fair  production  an  average  of  thirty-five  pieces  per 
hour.  We  put  our  old  operatives  into  the  training  department, 
and  within  four  weeks  after  the  new  and  old  operatives  had 
been  through  this  training  department,  the  average  production 
was  raised  to  over  twenty-five  pieces  per  hour,  and  today  the 
average  is  over  fifty-five  pieces  per  hour.  The  same  results 
were  obtained  on  all  of  our  work,  such  as  machining,  inspection 
and  assemblage. 

It  is  particularly  important  and  interesting  to'  note  that 
many  of  our  most  skilled  operatives  are  men  and  women  well 
along  in  life.  We  find  that  while  the  young  worker  has  more 
vigor,  the  older  one  is  usually  more  careful  and  steady,  and 
more  anxious  to  keep  up  a  high  average  rate  of  production. 
Their  continuous  work  on  their  jobs  brings  this  average  produc- 
tion up  to  that  of  the  younger  and  more  vigorous. 

We  have  demonstrated  that  strong,  healthy  women  can  do 
work  requiring  great  precision  after  they  are  thoroughly  trained 
quite  as  well  as  skilled  men  mechanics.  They  work  on  hand- 
turret  screw  machines,  hand  millers,  power  millers,  drill  presses, 
thread  millers,  punch  presses,  routers  and  special  machines  of 
all  types.  They  are  remarkably  efficient  as  inspectors.  We  have 
also  taught  them  to  be  excellent  tool-makers.  .  . 

Advantages  of  the  Vestibule  Method 

The  advantages  of  the  vestibule  method  of  training  may  be 
summarized  under  the  following  headings: 

1.  Instruction   does   not   interfere  with   work   being   carried 
along  in  the  normal  process  of  manufacture. 

2.  Expensive  machine  tools  and  other  department  equipment 
can  be  kept  up  to  the  standard  production,  thus  decreasing  the 
losses  from  fixed  charges  and  overhead  expense. 

3.  Breakage   and   waste   materials   due   to   carelessness    and 
lack  of  supervision  are  greatly  minimized. 

4.  The  bulk  of  the  turnover  is  taken  from  the  shop  and  kept 
in  the  school.     Persons  not  fitted  for  the  work  are  discovered 
before  they  cause  the  company  a  loss  by  being  put  on  regular 
work.     Ability  along  other  lines  can  sometimes  be  discovered, 


262  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

thus  allowing  transfers  to  be  made  with  the  minimum  loss  to 
employer  and  employee. 

5.  The  time  of  workmen  and  foremen  can  be  given  entirely 
to  the  routine  duties  of  the  shop. 

6.  Right  methods  can  be  taught  in  detail  from  the  start,  thus 
preventing   workmen    from   falling   into   wasteful   or   inefficient 
habits  which  must  later  be  overcome. 

7.  Learners  have  their  habits  fixed  before  becoming  acquainted 
with  methods  of  slighting  their  work  in  order  to  increase  pro- 
duction. 

8.  Skilled  workers  and  foremen  are  reluctant  to  teach  begin- 
ners and  do -not  adapt  themselves  to  individual  needs.    This  is 
overcome  by  securing  trained  instructors  who  devote  more  time 
to  each  beginner. 

9.  Few  skilled  workers  are  able  to  analyze  operations  into 
their  elements  and  teach  them  in  the  best  instructional  order. 
This    is    accomplished   by   analyses    made   before   the   vestibule 
school    is    started,    and    standard    practice    insures    that    each 
instructor  follows  the  approved  procedure  in  teaching. 

10.  Better  sequence  of  work  in  good  instructional  order  can 
be  maintained  in  the  vestibule  school  than  in  the  shop. 

11.  Uniform  methods  and  standards  of  quality  can  be  insisted 
upon  throughout  the  plant. 

12.  The   general   rules   and    regulations   governing   the   habits 
and    daily   routine   of   workers   can   be   taught  before  they  are 
sent  into  departments,  thus  tending  to  maintain  better  discipline. 

13.  Working  conditions  in  the  training  section  are  less  likely 
to  cause  nervousness  and  discouragement.     This  is  particularly 
true    with    women    employees,    and    has    an    important   bearing 
upon  the  work  of  young  persons,  who  are  thus  freed  from  the 
observation  and  ridicule  of  expert  workers. 

14.  Emergency  demands  can  be  met  where  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  train  sufficient  numbers  in  the  shop  within  a  reasonable 
length  of  time  without  seriously  disturbing  the  flow  of  work. 

15.  The  vestibule  school  gives  opportunity  for  the  experimental 
try-out  of  machines,  tools,  fixtures,  and  methods  of  operation 
before  they  are  put  into  the  factory.     It  is  possible  to  combine 
the    school   and    the    experimental    shop. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  263 

Disadvantages  of  the  Vestibule  Method 

Among  the  disadvantages  of  the  vestibule  method  of  training 
pointed  out  by  various  manufacturers  who  have  tried  it,  the 
following  appear  to  be  significant : 

1.  Fluctuations  in  the  number  of  employees  to  be  trained  for 
a  given  operation  may  make  it  uneconomical  to  retain  full-time 
instructors  or  maintain  school  equipment. 

2.  Production   work   is    always   better   than   work    done    for 
practice  purposes  on  waste  materials.    Since  commercial  produc- 
tion is  not  always  attainable  in  the  vestibule  school,  this  some- 
times  becomes   a   disadvantage. 

3.  Beginners    tend    to    attain    maximum    production     more 
quickly  when  associated  with  expert  workers  than  when  among 
unskilled  companions. 

4.  The  spirit  of  the  students  in  the  school  may  become  that 
of    careless    learners    rather   than    earnest    workmen.      In    other 
words,   the   spirit  of   the   schoolroom   rather  than  of   the   shop 
is  sometimes  engendered. 

5.  Vestibule   training  often  tends  to  become  superficial  and 
gives  the  worker  no  real  understanding  of  shop  procedure.     It 
tends  to  limit  the  operator  to  one  or  at  most  a  few  simple  tasks. 


XV.  THE  VALUE  OF  PSYCHOLOGICAL 
TESTS 

THE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF     INDIVIDUAL 
DIFFERENCES  x 

An  unquestioned  acceptance  of  the  concept  of  the  equality 
of  man  results  in  inefficiency  wherever  applied.  In  the  army  it 
results  in  seniority  promotion.  In  labor  unions  it  results  in  an 
insistence  upon  an  equality  of  wages  for  all  the  workers  of  a 
craft.  In  popular  thought  on  matters  of  social  control  it  leads 
to  communism  and  syndicalism.  In  industry  it  results  in  the 
shaping  of  jobs  to  suit  the  capacity  of  the  average  man,  with 
the  consequent  elimination  of  adequate  stimulus  to  action  for 
the  superior  individuals.  The  concept  of  the  equality  of  all 
normal  men  is  a  psychological  error  that  has  perverted  the 
thinking  and  weakened  the  action  of  all  peoples  inspired  with 
a  true  and  worthy  ideal  of  democracy. 

Possibly  the  greatest  single  achievement  of  the  members  of 
the  American  Psychological  Association  is  the  establishment  of 
the  psychology  of  individual  differences.  You  have  discovered 
that  normal  adult  men  differ  greatly  in  all  human  capacities 
and  attainments.  You  have  demonstrated  that  such  differences 
are  much  greater  than  had  ever  been  imagined.  You  have 
found  that  individual  differences  are  relatively  small  in  such 
matters  as  height,  weight,  physical  strength,  and  reaction-time, 
but  that  normal  adults  differ  enormously  in  the  so-called  higher 
mental  qualities.  Guided  by  this  new  conception  of  individual 
differences  you  have  entered  the  schools  and  insisted  that  pupils 
be  grouped  by  their  mental  ages  rather  than  by  their  chron- 
ological ages.  You  have  entered  the  army  and  urged  that 
enlisted  men  be  assigned  according  to  their  fitness  for  army 
tasks  rather  than  by  the  location  of  their  place  of  enlistment. 
You  have  insisted  that  commissioned  officers  be  promoted  ac- 

1  Walter  Dill  Scott,  President  of  the  Scott  Company,  President  of  the 
American  Psychological  Association.  Address  reprinted  in  the  Psychological 
Review.  Vol.  27.  1920.  p.  84-5. 


266  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

cording  to  merit  rather  than  by  seniority.  You  have  cooperated 
with  progressive  labor  unions  in  developing  a  conception  and 
practice  adequate  to  provide  protection  for  the  weak  and  oppor- 
tunity for  the  strong.  You  have  entered  industry  and  insisted 
that  applicants  be  accepted  according  to  fixed  standards;  that 
workers  be  promoted  according  to  attainments  and  that  each 
employee  be  inspired  by  the  particular  stimulus  most  effective 
for  him.  Your  gospel  of  diversified  talents  is  permeating  our 
national  thought  and  indicating,  on  the  one  hand,  the  wisdom  of 
a  democracy  utilizing  experts  in  all  fields  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  hazard  of  all  methods  of  social  control  based  on  the  assumed 
equality  of  normal  adults.  .  . 


CAN     WORKERS     BE    TESTED  ?*-  CAUSES     OF 
SUCCESSES  AND  FAILURES1 

A  contemporary  vocational  counselor,  whom  I  have  met,  is 
said  to  receive  each  of  his  clients  in  an  office  which  has  no  hat 
rack  and  no  extra  chair.  The  client  enters  and  the  counselor 
abruptly  orders  him,  "Hang  up  your  hat!  Sit  down!"  The 
amazed  young  chap,  seeing  no  place  to  hang  his  hat  and  finding 
no  chair  to  sit  on,  does  either  of  two  things.  He  may  resent 
the  insult,  register  anger,  and  perhaps  make  a  justly  impudent 
reply.  If  so,  he  is  advised  to  become  a  salesman.  Or,  he  may 
be  so  astounded  by  the  counselor's  unexpected  impertinence  as 
to  stand  awkwardly  fumbling  his  hat,  grinning  or  blushing,  with 
a  demeanor  that  is  at  least  awkwardly  meek  and  humble,  in 
which  case  he  is  advised  to  become  a  pharmacist. 

Such  illustrations  serve  to  introduce  some  of  the  traditional 
methods  of  vocational  guidance,  occupational  placement,  and  em- 
ployee selection,,  based  as  they  are  on  the  observations  of  a 
tender  parent,  the  candidate's  statements  about  himself  and  the 
impressionistic  theory  of  a  prejudiced  and  ignorant  interviewer. 

We  may  add  to  these,  three  further  traditional  methods — the 
letter  of  application,  the  photograph,  and  the  recommendation. 
Perhaps  these  last  three  methods  are  today  in  better  popular 
repute  than  are  the  first  three.  But  whatever  their  repute,  they 
are  little  if  any  more  reliable. 

1 H.  L.  Hollingvvorth.  Business  Personnel.  November,  1920.  p.  16-18, 
46-7. 


BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES  267 

A  bona  fide  advertisement  for  a  stenographer  was  inserted 
in  a  New  York  newspaper  and  over  one  hundred  letters  of  appli- 
cation were  received.  Each  gave,  in  the  applicant's  own  hand- 
writing and  on  stationery  individually  chosen,  the  main  facts  of 
the  applicant's  business  career — education,  experience,  previous 
employment — and  set  forth,  with  such  clearness  as  the  applicant 
could  command,  the  particular  qualifications  for  the  job. 

Every  fourth  letter,  in  the  order  opened,  was  taken,  giving 
a  set  of  twenty-five  random  samples.  Twelve  employers  were 
asked  separately  and  individually  to  rank  these  letters  in  an 
order  of  merit  for  neatness.  A  week  later  they  were  approached 
again  and  asked  to  arrange  them  in  order  for  intelligence,  and 
a  week  later,  for  tact.  Whatever  these  traits  may  mean,  a 
stenographer  should  have  them. 

Three  months  later,  the  same  twelve  employers,  without 
previous  warning,  were  given  the  same  set  of  letters,  and  asked 
to  do  the  same  three  things  once  more — to  arrange  the  letters  in 
order  of  merit  for  neatness,  intelligence  and  tact.  This  gives 
data  for  two  points — it  will  show  how  much  agreement  there  is 
among  employers  in  their  judgment  of  these  letters  of  applica- 
tion, and  it  will  show  how  well  a  given  employer  agrees  with 
himself  on  two  different  occasions  when  he  tries  to  judge  the 
letters  for  the  same  trait. 

The  letter  marked  "A"  for  purposes  of  identification  was 
given  highest  place  (i),  lowest  place  (25),  and  occupied  posi- 
tions all  the  way  along  the  scale,  from  poorest  to  best  in  neat- 
ness. Letter  B  was  placed  as  high  as  position  4,  as  low  as  25, 
and  was  given  positions  all  along  the  scale  by  the  various  em- 
ployers. Letter  C  ranged  from  second  to  twenty-fifth  place,  and 
all  the  other  letters  produced  this  same  disagreement  among  the 
judges.  A  letter  thrown  by  one  judge  into  the  waste  basket  as 
the  worst  of  the  lot  was  placed  by  some  other  judge  at  the  top 
of  the  list  as  the  best  of  the  lot.  The  applicant  who  would  have 
been  flatly  rejected  by  one  employer,  and  never  even  given  an 
interview,  was  given  first  chance  at  the  job  by  some  other  em- 
ployer. 

In  arranging  the  letters  for  intelligence,  the  situation  was 
even  worse.  Almost  never  did  two  employers  agree,  and  every 
letter  was  assigned  positions  all  along  the  scale,  from  I  to  25. 
The  arrangements  for  tact  were  of  just  the  same  inconsistency. 


268  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

The  data  are  too  elaborate  to  reproduce  here,  but  I  shall  be 
glad  to  show  the  figures  to  anyone  who  is  interested. 

Consider  now  the  case  where  the  same  employer  judged  the 
same  set  of  letters  again  after  a  three-month  interval.  Repre- 
sent complete  agreement  between  the  two  arrangements  by 
+  100%;  no  relation  at  all,  except  a  random  one,  by  00%;  and 
a  complete  reversal  of  the  previous  order  by  — 100%.  We  may 
then  get  coefficients  of  agreement  ranging  all  the  way  from 
+  100%  down,  and  if  an  employer's  judgment  of  a  letter  of 
application  is  really  reliable,  his  two  arrangements  should  be 
very,  very  similar — that  is,  the  coefficient  should  be  nearly  +100% 
in  each  case.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  average  coefficient  is  only 
52%;  there  are  coefficients  as  low  as  8%  for  intelligence, 
18%  of  tact,  and  even  a  partial  reversal,  giving  only  — 14%,  in 
the  case  of  neatness.  That  is  to  say,  these  judgments  are  so 
unreliable  that  an  employer  who  places  a  given  application  very 
high  in  the  series  for  neatness,  or  intelligence,  or  tact,  on  one 
occasion,  will,  three  months  later,  when  given  the  same  series 
of  letters,  make  such  different  judgments  that  you  would  never 
suppose  him  to  be  the  same  man.  The  applicant  whom  he  flatly 
rejected  three  months  ago,  may  now  stand  among  the  very  highest 
in  his  esteem. 

This  is  a  type  of  psychological  study  that  is  much  needed 
in  personnel  work,  since  it  seeks  to  evaluate  in  definite  terms 
the  actual  validity  of  the  traditional  methods.  Judgments  based 
on  the  photograph  and  on  letters  of  recommendation  exhibit  the 
same  unreliability.  The  usual  employer  does  not  discover  the 
fact,  for  he  seldom  makes  many  of  his  ratings  twice  and  almost 
never  compares  them  with  the  judgments  of  another  employer. 

Is  there  no  way  out  of  the  dilemma?  There  are  two  ways. 
In  the  first  place,  even  these  traditional  methods,  if  the  proper 
technic  is  followed,  can  be  made  to  yield  information  of  surpris- 
ing reliability  and  practical  value.  Even  the  much-maligned 
photograph  can  be  made  to  reveal  with  a  high  degree  of  ac- 
curacy the  candidate's  relative  intelligence,  refinement,  or  vul- 
garity, although  it  conveys  no  information  as  to  his  neatness, 
his  conceit  nor  his  sociability.  The  letter  of  recommendation 
has  high  value  when  it  concerns  the  applicant's  originality,  quick- 
ness, or  intelligence,  whereas  it  has  extremely  little  value  if  it 
relates  to  his  integrity,  his  co-operativeness  or  his  cheerfulness. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  269 

Studies  of  the  recommendation,  in  which  one  person  gives 
his  estimate  of  another,  have  been  made  by  comparing  the 
estimates  given  by  different  acquaintances  relating  to  the  same 
individual.  Indicating  human  qualities  by  an  array  of  twenty- 
four  familiar  expressions,  it  appears  that  on  some  of  these 
qualities  different  acquaintances  or  different  previous  employers 
or  supervisors  will  agree  closely  with  each  other.  For  these 
traits  then  the  single  recommendation  tells  the  same  story  as 
would  be  told  by  all  the  others. 

On  other  qualities  however  different  judges,  in  their  recom- 
mendations or  estimates  of  a  person,  disagree  so  strikingly  with 
each  other  that  it  would  be  poor  policy  to  put  any  faith  in  a 
single  recommendation  bearing  on  these  traits,  because  the  very 
next  person  asked  would,  in  all  probability,  have  formed  a  very 
different  opinion  of  the  person  considered. 

Two  other  groups  of  traits  fall  intermediate  in  position 
between  these  two  extremes.  Every  recommendation,  before 
being  accepted,  should  be  analyzed  in  the  light  of  this  table  of 
traits.  If  the  qualities  reported  fall  in  the  upper  part  of  the  list, 
considerable  faith  may  be  put  in  the  correctness  of  the  opinion 
expressed.  The  lower  in  the  list  the  trait  falls,  the  less  con- 
fidence should  be  placed  in  the  recommendation.  The  practical 
value  of  this  psychological  study  of  the  reliability  of  recom- 
mendations is  so  great  that  it  seems  worth  while  giving  here 
'  the  list  of  traits  in  the  order  in  which  they  stand  as  a  result 
of  this  investigation. 

A.  Efficiency,     Originality,     Quickness,     Intelligence — With 
respect  to  these  traits,  different  judges  will  agree  closely,  hence 
a  single  recommendation  bearing  on  these  traits  may  be  accepted 
with  considerable  confidence. 

B.  Perseverance,  Judgment,  Will,  Breadth,  Leadership— On 
these   traits   there  is   fair  agreement,   and   the   testimony  of   a 
single  acquaintance  should  be  given  serious  consideration. 

C.  Clearness,  Balance,  Intensity,  Reasonableness,  Independ- 
ence, Refinement,  Health,  Emotions,  Energy,  Courage— On  this 
long  array  of  traits  different  judges,   in   estimating  the   same 
person,  tend  to  disagree  with  each  other  to  such  an  extent  that 
no  one  statement  of  opinion  should  be  given  much  weight  unless 
supported   by   the   testimony   of   another    supervisor,    employer 
or  acquaintance. 


270  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

D.  Unselfishness,  Integrity,  Cooperativeness,  Cheerfulness, 
Kindliness — With  respect  to  these  qualities  the  applicant  will 
have  impressed  different  people  in  such  different  ways  that  only 
a  census  of  many  opinions  is  likely  to  reveal  the  true  facts, 
and  practically  no  weight  should  be  given  to  a  single  recom- 
mendation relating  to  these  qualities. 

Since  this  article  is  to  deal  mainly  with  test  methods,  the 
matter  of  improving  the  technic  of  traditional  methods  cannot 
be  further  elaborated  here,  but  it  is  my  opinion  that  one  of  the 
most  valuable  contributions  of  psychology  to  the  personnel  work 
is  in  this  field  of  the  critical  examination,  improvement  and 
standardization  of  the  traditional  methods. 

The  second  way  out  of  the  dilemma  that  has  been  proposed 
consists  in  measuring  the  candidate's  ability,  more  or  less 
directly,  instead  of  relying  on  indirect  symptoms.  The  applicant 
is  strictly  speaking,  put  to  the  test.  Since  either  mental  or  moral 
aptitudes,  on  the  one  hand,  or  motor  dexterity  and  skill,  on  the 
other,  lie  at  the  bottom  of  all  industrial  and  business  processes, 
the  tests  become  psychological  tests,  rather  than  gymnastic, 
medical  or  social. 

Important  in  most  cases  is  that  combination  of  mental  alert- 
ness and  adaptability  which  we  call  intelligence.  Data  accumu- 
lated by  the  army  psychologists  show,  beyond  reasonable  doubt, 
that  if  the  intelligence  of  the  average  carpenter,  plumber,  cook 
or  blacksmith  is  for  convenience  called  100%,  then  to  be  an 
average  bookkeeper,  photographer,  filing  clerk  or  band  musician 
requires  an  intelligence  of  115%.  But  one  can  be  an  average 
tailor,  barber,  boilermaker,  farmer  or  horseshoer  with  an  intel- 
ligence of  less  than  86%.  Furthermore,  the  average  dentist, 
draughtsman,  stenographer,  accountant,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary  or 
physician  requires  an  intelligence  of  over  120%;  and  engineer- 
ing officers  and  clergymen  becoming  army  chaplains  averaged 
as  high  as  130%. 

Note  now  the  striking  differences  between  these  groups  in 
regard  to  the  nature  of  the  materials  with  which  they  deal.  The 
86%  intelligent  deal  with  raw  materials  or  with  domestic  ani- 
mals; the  100%  intelligent  (the  average  man)  can  handle  ma- 
terials in  a  semi-finished  state  and  can  use  simple  tools,  but  can- 
not deal  effectively  with  abstract  symbols.  Dealing  with  simple 
symbols,  records,  etc.,  requires  an  average  of  115%.  Individuals 
in  the  120%  class  can  handle  complex  symbols  and  can  deal  in 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  271 

the  simpler  relations  with  other  human  beings.  Officers  and 
chaplains,  dealing  directly  with  human  material,  with  other  men, 
require  the  exceptional  average  of  130%  (and  this,  as  one  of  my 
students  remarked,  seems  to  fit  the  chaplain  at  least  to  deal  with 
the  Almighty  Himself). 

We  hear  much  in  vocational  guidance  and  elsewhere  of  spe- 
cial ability  to  work  with  animals,  with  tools,  with  abstract  sym- 
bols, with  other  people,  etc.  The  point  I  wish  to  emphasize 
here  is  that  these  abilities  are  not  special  aptitudes,  but  instead 
seem  to  represent  lower  or  higher  degrees  of  general  intelli- 
gence. In  guidance,  in  placement  and  in  selection  it  is  impor- 
tant that  these  facts  be  known.  It  is  still  more  important  that 
there  now  exist  several  equally  good  and  valuable  systems, 
whereby  any  individual  not  actually  insane  (he  may,  however, 
be  blind,  deaf,  illiterate  or  foreign)  can  be  measured  in  mental 
alertness  with  an  error  of  not  more  than  5%.  To  describe 
this  array  of  methods  is,  of  course,  impossible  in  this  account 
and  the  interested  reader  should  consult  the  special  articles  and 
monographs  relating  to  them. 

But  it  is  wrong  to  assume  that  intelligence  represents  every- 
thing, either  in  choosing  a  vocation  or  while  on  the  job.  There 
are,  after  all,  such  things  as  special  aptitudes.  Everyone  knows 
color-blind  men,  women  who  cannot  carry  a  tune,  and  both  men 
and  women  who,  after  years  of  practice,  are  unable  to  play  a 
decent  game  of  checkers,  although  none  of  these  need  be  lack- 
ing in  general  intelligence.  On  the  other  hand,  inmates  of 
feeble-minded  institutions  sometimes  display  a  startling  skill 
with  just  these  materials.  I  have  in  my  laboratory  the  psycho- 
graphs  (charted  measures  of  mental  abilities)  of  two  boys  of 
precisely  equal  general  intelligence.  One  of  them  cannot  reas- 
semble the  scattered  parts  of  a  patent  clothespin,  but  he  is  a 
mathematical  prodigy  and  writes  poetry.  The  other  is  a  poor 
hand  at  free  verse,  but  he  can  make  a  decrepit  gasoline  engine 
hum. 

In  vocation  and  employment,  then,  tests  are  needed  for  such 
special  aptitudes  as  are  revealed  by  the  job  analyst.  These  spe- 
cial vocational  tests  have  now  developed  along  four  lines,  as 
follows : 

i.  The  Reduced  Model:  Here  a  miniature  of  the  actual  in- 
dustrial process  is  set  up — a  toy  switchboard,  a  laboratory  trol- 
ley car,  a  reduced  landscape  garden,  etc.  The  candidate's  skill 


272  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

is  judged  by  his  ability  to  handle  the  miniature.  This  method, 
though  often  experimented  with  in  industry,  has  not  brought 
good  results.  In  the  first  place,  it  shows  only  what  the  appli- 
cant can  do  now,  not  what  he  may  be  able  to  do  a  year  hence. 
In  the  second  place,  although  a  Shetland  pony  is  a  fairly  good 
miniature  of  a  Percheron  stallion,  in  handling  the  latter  one 
encounters  factors  never  presented  by  the  Shetland  pony. 

2.  The    Specimen    Task:     Here   a    selected   sample    of    the 
work  is  so  standardized  as  to  constitute  a  uniform  test:  the 
secretary  takes  a  standard  dictation,  the  clergyman  preaches  a 
trial  sermon,   the  prospective  office  boy  is  sent  on  a  puzzling 
errand,  the  aspiring  machinist  is  set  at  a  standard  piece  of  lathe 
work  or  milling,  etc.    This  method  differs  from  the  old  "try  out" 
in  that  the  task  is  standardized,  is  measurable,  and  is  given  to 
all  applicants  alike.     This  is  the  method  on  which  the  modern 
"trade  tests"  are  based,  and  the  trade  test  idea  is  now  familiar 
to  all  who  are  interested  in  personnel  problems.    Among  the  de- 
fects of  the  method  are  the  facts  that  it  reveals,  at  best,  only 
present,  not  potential,   skill,  and  hence  can  be  of  little  use  in 
guidance  or  in  selection  of  raw  material.    Among  its  virtues  is 
the   fact  that  it  is  thorough,   relevant,   susceptible   of   constant 
adjustment,  and  is   (if  properly  handled)   solidly  based  on  pre- 
liminary trials  with  operatives  of  known  competence.     In  the 
performance,  picture  and  oral  form,  the  method  of  the  sample 
has  marked  value  in  certain  limited  fields. 

3.  The  Method  of  Analogy:     A  third  method  often  tried 
out  in  industry  is  what  I  shall  call  that  of  analogy.  Thus  it  has 
been    assumed   that   quickness    of    visual    discrimination    is    an 
ability  required  by  ball-bearing  inspectors.     Measures  of  visual 
discrimination  are  then  taken,  using  opticians'  charts,  etc.,  and 
the  candidate's  ability  thus  rated.    Never,  in  my  experience,  has 
this  method  met  with  the  success  that  its  obvious  character  leads 
one  to  hope  for.     The  reason  is  that,  although  different  people 
show  varying  skills  in  working  with  diverse  materials,  we  can- 
not break  up  the  mind  into  faculties  and  test  these  separately. 
In  fact,  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  mind  is  composed  of  such 
faculties.    Nor  has  any  job  analyst,  to  my  knowledge,  been  suc- 
cessful in  the  enumeration  of  this  and  that  "trait"  as  called  for 
by  a  given  kind  of  work.     What  jobs  are  more  diverse  than 
prize  fighting,  plumbing  and  peddling?    Yet  all  of  them  may  be 
said  to  call  for  energy,  industry,  judgment,  and  ability  to  deal 
with  people. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  273 

4.  Method  of  Correlation:  The  method  that  I  have  found 
most  directly  useful,  both  in  selection  and  placement  as  well  as 
in  guidance,  is  what  is  called  the  method  of  correlation.  I  have 
seen  it  used  with  salesmen,  telegraphers,  typists,  stenographers, 
telephone  operators,  line  inspectors,  business  secretaries,  hand 
stitchers,  machine  operators,  label  pasters,  shell  inspectors,  effi- 
ciency engineers  and  filing  clerks,  in  every  case  with  definite 
and  provable  success.  It  succeeds  not  only  in  detecting  present 
skill,  but  can  be  used  also  to  predict  potential  capacity  in  one 
who  has  never  yet  tried  his  hand  at  the  job.  The  method  is 
simple  and  straightforward;  it  is  laborious  in  the  beginning,  but 
speedy  in  the  end. 

Let  me  illustrate  in  the  case  of  typists.  Twenty  or  thirty 
tests  are  devised  in  the  laboratory,  varying  in  the  materials  used, 
the  task  set,  etc.,  as  much  as  possible.  These  tests  are  given  to 
typists  now  on  the  job  whose  competence  is  already  registered 
in  various  ways  (production  records,  supervisors'  estimates, 
etc.),  which  are  combined  to  give  the  best  possible  objective  rat- 
ing. They  then  stand  in  a  certain  order  of  merit  for  actual  skill. 
But  in  each  of  the  tests  they  also  stand  in  some  order  of  ability. 
In  some  tests  the  order  of  ability  is  very  like  the  order  of  rated 
skill  on  the  job.  Proper  mathematical  technic  will  show  pre- 
cisely how  close  the  agreement  is.  These  tests  which  show 
ranking  of  the  workers  similar  to  or  approximately  their  known 
order  of  merit  are  then  tried  out  on  other  groups  of  typists,  in 
order  to  make  sure  that  only  those  tests  are  finally  chosen  that 
yield  consistent  results.  Out  of  the  original  thirty  tests,  involv- 
ing a  great  variety  of  materials  and  tasks,  five  tests  stand  up 
under  repeated  trial  with  the  typists  engaged  in  the  particular 
work  of  a  particular  firm. 

All  the  thirty  tests  are  now  tried  on  beginners,  who  are  then 
set  to  work  learning  the  job,  and,  in  a  year  or  so,  after  they 
have  reached  what  seems  to  be  their  probable  limit  of  skill,  their 
firm  rating  and  production  records  are  compared  with  the  rank- 
ings in  all  the  tests.  Certain  tests  again  agree  with  the  objec- 
tive facts,  and  among  them  are  the  five  tests  that  survived  the 
trials  when  given  after  skill  was  already  acquired. 

These  five  tests  then  constitute  a  team  that  will  identify 
either  a  good  skilled  typist  or  a  potentially  good  beginner.  In- 
deed, again  by  the  use  of  proper  mathematical  technic,  the  score 
in  the  five  tests  can  be  made  to  reveal  the  future  degree  of  pro- 
ficiency of  an  unskilled  applicant  within  any  limits  of  accuracy 


274  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

desired  by  the  firm  or  compelled  by  the  state  of  the  labor  mar- 
ket. 

If  you  now  ask  what  traits  these  five  tests  measure,  it  is 
possible  only  to  reply  that  they  measure  typing  ability,  either 
actual  or  potential,  with  at  least  four  times  the  accuracy  of  the 
traditional  methods.  From  his  ability  in  handling  the  material 
of  these  tests,  the  beginner  can  know,  within  reasonable  limits 
of  accuracy,  what  degree  of  skill  in  typing  he  may  hope  to  at- 
tain, and  this  affords  a  suggestion  basis  for  vocational  guidance 
as  well  as  for  employee  selection  and  for  placement.  From  a  prac- 
tical point  of  view,  this  is  all  that  need  ever  be  known.  Only  the 
academic  psychologist  will  be  worried  because  he  is  not  able  to 
analyze  the  processes  in  greater  detail. 

It  is  true,  of  course,  that  these  tests  do  not  measure  the 
honesty,  the  morality,  the  interest  or  the  ambition  of  the  appli- 
cants, at  least  in  any  direct  sense,  and  it  is  also  true  that  these 
character  traits  are  an  important  part  of  the  morale  of  industry. 
"It  is  well  enough,"  you  may  say,  "to  test  the  memory  span,  at- 
tention type  and  reaction  time  of  a  street-car  motorman,  but  it 
is  equally  important  to  know  the  strength  of  his  ambition,  his 
fear  of  Hell,  his  belief  in  sabotage  and  his  devotion  to  his 
family."  That  these  motives  bulk  large  in  vocation  and  industry 
goes  without  saying.  They  present  problems  for  further  solu- 
tion. In  the  meantime  it  is  something  to  have  available  prac- 
tical tests  of  mental  alertness  and  general  intelligence,  standards 
of  intelligence  for  general  groups  of  jobs,  trade  test  technic  in 
active  development  and  a  sure  and  accurate,  even  if  laborious, 
method  of  relating  particular  tests  to  particular  types  of  work. 
It  is  especially  in  this  last  field  that  the  future  developments  in 
job  analysis  and  in  vocational  direction  will  be  found. 

Somewhat  aside  from  the  main  topic  of  this  article  is  the 
importance  of  the  fact  that  even  the  traditional  methods  are 
capable  of  a  technic  that  at  least  trebles  their  original  and 
usual  value.  Some  of  these,  such  as  the  systematic  interview, 
the  standardized  rating  based  on  subjective  impression,  the 
analyzed  recommendation  and,  in  certain  cases,  the  group 
reaction  to  photograph  or  to  personal  appearance  in  general, 
may  be  made  to  yield  such  useful  results  that  they  should 
always  be  included  in  a  sizing-up  system. 

Complaints  are  often  made  that  test  methods  have  not  pro- 
duced the  positive  results  claimed  for  them.  I  make  a  practice 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  275 

of  inquiring  further  into  such  reports,  and  inevitably  it  has 
been  found  that  these  represent  cases  where  misguided  enthusi- 
asts have  misapplied  the  test  method  and  arbitrarily  adopted 
some  second-hand  set  of  tests,  without  understanding  the  prob- 
lems involved  in  the  preliminary  try-out  and  choice  of  particular 
tests  for  the  particular  work  under  the  particular  conditions 
of  a  particular  industry  and  a  particular  labor  market  and 
source  of  supply. 

The  original  laying  out  of  a  set  of  occupational  tests  requires 
close  study  of  the  industrial  setting  combined  with  a  high 
degree  of  professional  psychological  skill.  The  actual  use  of 
the  tests,  once  they  are  laid  out,  does  not  require  either  of 
these  virtues,  except  in  so  far  as  changing  shop  conditions 
and  labor  supply  make  occasional  revisions  of  standards  expe- 
dient. The  employer  who  flatly  rejects  all  standardized  test 
technic,  and  the  personnel  man  who  fancies  that  he  can  become 
an  industrial  psychologist  over  night  and  thus  solve  all  employ- 
ment problems,  are  both  overlooking  a  good  bet.  Iodine,  in 
competent  hands,  is  a  useful  medicine,  but  it  will  not  cure  all 
ills,  and  its  indiscriminate  use  may  mean  certain  death.  Test 
methods  in  vocational  guidance,  employee  selection  and  industrial 
placement  have,  in  these  respects,  properties  similar  to  those  of 
iodine. 


VARIETY  OF  PRACTICAL  APPLICATIONS  * 

For  each  individual,  it  may  be  said,  there  is  one  occupation 
which  is  more  suitable  than  any  other,  and  in  every  occupation 
some  succeed  better  than  others.  This  arises  from  the  wide 
physical  and  mental  differences  distinguishing  individuals  from 
one  another.  For  example,  in  some  the  constructive  instinct, 
in  others  the  acquisitive,  in  others  again  the  submissive  instinct, 
is  paramount.  Some  are  predominantly  of  the  hunting  type, 
others  are  rather  of  the  pastoral  or  agricultural  type,  with 
appropriate  instincts  of  aggressiveness,  tenderness,  etc.,  peculiar 
to  each.  Individuals  also  differ  innately  in  manual  dexterity, 
span  of  apprehension  and  memory,  etc.  Thus  in  a  pencil  factory, 
where  twelve  pencils  have  to  be  picked  up  from  a  pile  with  one 

Charles  S.  Myers.  Mind  and  Work.  p.  75-91.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 
New  York  and  London.  1921. 


276  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

hand,  some  fail  after  many  attempts,  while  others  are  successful 
at  once ;  and  in  a  printing  establishment,  some  linotype  operators 
never  pass  beyond  the  twenty-five-hundred-em  class  (the  em  be- 
ing a  measure  of  output),  whereas  others,  with  no  effort,  can 
manage,  it  is  said,  to  set  five  thousand  ems. 

Obviously  much  can  be  done  to  prevent  the  "round  peg"  from 
getting  into  the  "square  hole"  by  means  of  vocational  guidance 
offices  for  lads  and  girls  on  leaving  school.  A  great  deal  could 
be  effected  there  merely  by  sympathetic  interviews  aided  by 
school  records  and  knowledge  of  the  special  requirements  and 
openings  in  different  occupations.  Such  a  procedure  would  at 
least  help  in  coming  to  a  broad  decision  as  to  whether  a  given 
boy  or  girl  is  better  fitted  for  mental  work  or  manual  employ- 
ment, for  indoor  work  or  outdoor  work,  for  a  settled  or  a  roving 
life,  for  direction  or  dependence,  etc. 

But  the  scientific  study  of  vocational  guidance  must  be 
founded  on  something  more  than  "general  impressions"  (undeni- 
ably valuable  though  they  be).  It  must  undertake  a  careful 
physiological  and  psychological  analysis  of  (i)  the  requirements 
of  different  occupations,  and  (2)  the  individual  mental  and 
physical  differences  among  those  intending  to  work  at  them. 
For  the  groundwork  of  the  latter  task,  and  for  methods  of 
procedure,  we  are  indebted  to  the  experimental  psychology  of 
the  laboratory.  Some  of  the  earliest  psychological  investigations, 
those  on  reaction  time,  were  devoted  to  a  study  of  the  nature 
of  the  individual  differences  observed.  It  was  found  that,  when 
instructed  to  react  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  a  prescribed  signal, 
some  persons  were  naturally  of  the  quicker,  less  reliable,  so- 
called  "muscular"  type,  attending  predominately,  to  the  movement 
by  which  they  had  to  react,  while  others  were  naturally  of  the 
slower,  more  reliable,  "sensorial"  type,  attending  predominately 
to  the  signal  which  they  were  expecting  to  receive.  The  advan- 
tages of  choosing  employees  for  certain  occupations  according 
to  their  reactions  have  been  shown  in  a  certain  bicycle-ball 
factory  .  .  .  where  after  the  selection  of  the  best  workers  on 
the  basis  of  reaction  tests,  it  was  found  possible  to  increase 
the  output  by  over  two  hundred  forty  per  cent  and  to  in- 
crease the  accuracy  of  the  work  by  two-thirds.  .  . 

Psychological  tests  of  foresight  have  been  applied  in  investi- 
gations upon  motor-tram  drivers.  A  close  inverse  relation  has 
been  found  to  obtain  between  the  degree  of  a  driver's  success 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  277 

at  the  laboratory  tests  and  the  number  of  accidents  recorded 
against  him  during  his  everyday  work.  The  value  of  such 
investigations  needs  no  comment. 

Tests  of  the  accuracy  and  speed  of  reasoning  have  also  been 
devised.  Tests  of  general  information  have  been  frequently 
employed.  These  and  other  tests  are  now  introduced  into  Colum- 
bia University,  New  York,  as  an  alternative  for  the  matriculation 
examinations,  so  as  to  select  those  who  can  best  profit  by  a 
University  career. 

Among  other  available  tests  may  be  mentioned  those  of 
sensory  discrimination,  manual  dexterity,  mechanical  skill, 
aesthetic  appreciation,  rate  of  reading,  spelling  ability,  tests  which 
reveal  the  subject's  special  interests,  his  muscular  or  mental 
fatigability,  his  accuracy,  steadiness,  and  neatness,  his  memory 
for  names,  figures,  faces  or  facts,  the  breadth  or  detail  of  his 
observation,  his  improvability,  distractibility,  suggestibility,  etc. 
Their  application  to  those  who  offer  themselves  for  different 
occupations,  e.g.,  for  machinist's  or  assembler's  work,  designing, 
clerical  or  secretarial  work,  salesmanship,  etc.,  is  obvious. 

On  the  physical  side,  tests  of  muscular  strength  and  endur- 
ance are  of  great  importance  for  certain  occupations.  Length 
of  arm  reach,  and  the  span  and  shape  of  fingers  may  be  like- 
wise of  value;  in  one  industry,  for  example,  it  has  been  stated 
that  an  increased  output  of  from  six  to  nine  per  cent  may  be 
expected  by  taking  such  factors  into  account  in  the  choice  of 
girls  for  the  different  departments.  Again,  in  regard  to  sexual 
differences,  it  is  clear  that  there  is  great  scope  for  research  by 
appropriate  tests  to  determine  the  occupations  which  are  best 
fitted  to  men  and  to  women. 

Tests  have  been  devised  to  measure  the  worker's  rate  of 
feeding  a  machine,  and  success  in  these  tests  has  been  proved 
to  be  correlated  closely  with  the  known  fitness  of  the  worker 
for  a  fast-  or  a  slow-running  machine  in  the  factory.  The 
value  of  such  tests  for  selection  is  confirmed  by  the  observation 
that  some  workers  who  are  distinctly  below  the  average  on  a 
slow  operation  may  be  very  much  above  it  in  work  requiring 
speed — and  vice  versa.  Certain  tests  which  have  been  applied 
to  measure  dexterity  and  rate  of  assembling  have  been  found 
to  be  closely  correlated  with  the  workshop  ability,  and  some- 
times indeed  have  proved  the  foreman's  original  estimate  of 
the  worker's  ability  to  be  wrong,  as  his  judgments  agreed  far 


278  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

more  closely  with  the  results  of  the  tests  after  he  had  come  to 
know  the  workers  more  intimately. 

During  the  war  such  psychological  tests  were  developed  with 
great  success.  In  the  United  States  a  staff  of  experts  was 
engaged  (i)  in  applying  tests  for  estimating  the  educational 
level  and  intellectual  ability  of  each  recruit,  (2)  in  recording  the 
men's  pre-war  experiences  and  in  devising  and  applying  appro- 
priate tests  to  prove  their  special  qualifications,  and  (3)  in 
devising  and  applying  tests  for  the  selection  and  training  of 
telegraphists,  gunners,  and  others.  Among  the  objects  of  the 
first  of  these  groups  of  tests  were  (a)  the  allotment  of  a  mental 
rating  to  each  soldier,  so  as  to  help  the  personnel  officers  in 
the  formation  of  organizations  of  equal  or  of  appropriate  mental 
strength,  (b)  the  assistance  of  regimental  company  and  medical 
officers,  rendered  by  careful  examination  and  report  on  men 
who  were  not  responding  satisfactorily  to  training,  who  were 
otherwise  troublesome,  or  who,  in  accordance  with  their  degree 
of  mental  deficiency,  should  be  recommended  for  discharge, 
development  battalions,  labour  organizations,  etc.,  (c)  the  dis- 
covery of  men  of  superior  ability  who  should  be  selected  for 
non-commissioned  officers,  for  officers'  training  camps,  for  pro- 
motion or  for  assignment  to  special  tasks.  It  is  generally  agreed 
that  such  tests  saved  many  months  of  needless  camp  life  and 
that  by  means  of  them  the  right  man  was  far  more  often  put 
in  the  right  place.  .  . 

Many  of  the  mental  characters  hitherto  mentioned  can  be 
readily  and  speedily  tested  on  groups  of  fifty  or  more  persons 
simultaneously.  But  an  objection  may  be  raised  that  such  tests 
throw  no  light  on  the  higher,  moral  qualities  of  the  candidate, 
such  as  honesty,  courage,  loyalty,  perseverance,  promptness, 
punctuality,  resourcefulness,  imagination,  organizing  ability, 
self-control,  and  presence.  In  point  of  fact,  however,  several 
of  these  qualities  are  revealed  by  many  existing  tests  or  by 
others  that  can  be  devised  for  the  purpose,  whilst  full  light 
can  be  readily  thrown  on  the  rest  in  the  course  of  individual 
examination  and  cross-questioning.  None  but  those  who  have 
had  experience  in  psychological  tests  can  realize  what  a  wealth 
of  information  in  regard  to  the  general  "character"  of  the 
subject  is  incidentally  gained  from  a  few  tests  systematically 
and  individually  applied  during  an  interview.  .  . 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  279 

General  impressions  are  notoriously  unreliable,  besides  being, 
as  already  explained,  insufficient.  The  object  of  psychological 
tests  is,  so  far  as  possible,  to  substitute  scientific  methods  of 
universal  validity  in  place  of  individual,  intuitive,  often  ca- 
pricious and  prejudiced,  opinions. 

Enough  has  been  already  said  of  these  tests  to  indicate  that 
they  may  be  classified  under  two  heads.  On  the  one  hand,  we 
may  adopt  a  test  which  is  more  or  less  exactly  comparable  to 
the  conditions  under  which  the  subject  will  be  working;  e.g., 
we  may  test  his  powers  of  typewriting  by  actual  typewriting, 
we  may  test  his  ability  to  assemble  a  machine  by  giving  him 
some  parts  to  put  together,  or  we  may  supply  him  with  apparatus 
which  will  compare  with  the  rapid  feeding  of  a  machine.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  may  test  him  for  isolated  mental  character- 
istics, e.g.,  dexterity,  speed  of  reaction,  span  of  apprehension, 
appreciation  of  differences  in  visual  form,  and  we  may  utilize 
and  combine  the  results  of  his  various  performances  in  the 
following  way.  First  of  all,  we  ascertain  what  special  psycho- 
logical processes  are  required  for  success  in  the  occupation  for 
which  the  tests  are  needed.  Next,  we  ascertain  how  closely 
success  or  failure  at  the  tests  which  we  have  devised  in  order 
to  measure  these  processes  is  correlated  with  known  success  or 
failure  at  the  occupation  in  question ;  that  is  to  say,  we  compare 
the  order  of  excellence  of  a  large  number  of  trained  (good, 
bad,  and  indifferent)  operatives  at  each  of  the  tests  with  their 
order  of  excellence  in  the  workshop  as  determined  by  the 
estimates  of  foremen,  by  piece-rate  earnings,  etc.  Then  we 
proceed  to  "scrap"  the  tests  which  show  insufficient  correlation 
and  we  "weight"  the  useful  tests  according  to  their  different 
proved  degrees  of  correlation.  Finally,  we  are  able  to  apply  the 
tests  to  the  actual  examination  of  candidates  whose  capacity 
for  the  work  we  are  desirous  of  estimating.  By  this  means  the 
relative,  as  well  as  the  absolute,  value  of  each  test  is  accurately 
ascertained  before  it  is  employed  in  actual  practice,  and  the 
likelihood  of  the  candidate's  success  in  any  particular  occupation 
can  be  expressed  in  the  well-known  quantitative  terms  of 
probability.  .  . 

Because  tests  are  in  their  youth,  it  would  be  ridiculous  to 
urge  that  therefore  they  must  be  put  aside  until  they  reach 
fuller  maturity.  We  might  as  well  have  banned  surgery  and 


280 


PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 


medicine  a  hundred  years  ago  because  they  had  not  then  reached 
their  present  stage  of  advancement,  or  ban  them  today  because 
they  are  not  so  efficient  as  they  will  be  a  hundred  years  hence. 
Applied  sciences  can  grow  only  by  use.  Their  success  must 
largely  depend  on  the  skill  with  which  they  are  applied.  Like 
any  other  instruments  which  man  employs,  they  may  be  rightly 
or  wrongly  used ;  but  this  does  not  mean  that  vocational  selection 
is  unscientific. 


VOCATIONAL     SELECTION     BY    PSYCHOLOG- 
ICAL TESTS 1 

For  the  purpose  of  vocational  selection,  all  individuals  may 
be  roughly  divided  into  four  classes,  according  to  two  factors, 
ability  and  training.  We  may  show  the  four  possible  combina- 
tions of  these  factors  by  means  of  the  following  table : 


Natural  ability 

Natural  inability 

Good  training 

Poor  or  very 
little  training 

The  four  possible  combinations  to  be  deduced  from  this  table 
are:  (i)  those  with  natural  ability  supplemented  by  special 
training  in  some  special  field;  (2)  those  with  natural  ability  but 
with  no  particular  training;  (3)  those  with  poor  natural  ability 
but  a  thorough  training  in  some  particular  activity;  (4)  those 
with  neither  training  nor  ability.  The  word  training  is  used  here 
to  cover  both  education  and  experience.  All  individuals,  how- 
ever, whether  they  are  already  enrolled  in  an  organization  and 
looking  for  or  being  sought  for  other  work,  or  whether  they  are 
new  candidates,  first  applying  for  a  position,  may  be  roughly 
classified  under  these  four  heads. 

The  first  task  of  vocational  selection  or  training  is  to  dis- 
cover these  facts.  Until  they  are  known,  no  intelligent  choice 
can  be  made.  For  instance,  when  a  boy,  either  within  the  organi- 
zation or  without,  applies  for  admission  to  the  apprentice  course, 

1  Henry  C.  Link.  Employment  Psychology,  p.  174-87.  The  Mac- 
millan  Company.  New  York.  1919.  Reprinted  by  permission. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  281 

a  course  which  occupies  a  period  of  years  and  which  is  very 
costly,  the  question  as  to  whether  this  boy  has  the  necessary 
prerequisite  education  and  the  natural  ability  to  succeed  is  sure 
to  arise.  He  has  undoubtedly  had  some  education,  but  whether 
his  education  has  gone  far  enough,  or  whether  he  has  profited 
by  his  educational  opportunities  to  the  extent  of  being  able  to 
handle  the  necessary  mathematical  problems,  is  a  matter  which 
must  be  carefully  determined.  In  addition  to  this  it  is  necessary 
to  know  whether  the  boy  possesses  the  natural  ability  which  will 
enable  him  to  succeed  as  an  apprentice.  How  shall  these  two 
very  important  facts  be  determined?  This  is  just  the  question 
for  which  psychological  tests  provide  the  answer. 

All  tests  may  be  divided  roughly  into  two  kinds :  Those  de- 
signed to  discover  an  individual's  degree  of  innate  ability  in  cer- 
tain directions,  and  those  designed  to  measure  the  extent  and 
quality  of  an  individual's  previous  training  and  acquired  ability. 
This  distinction  is  by  no  means  a  clear  and  sharp-cut  one,  for 
every  test  whatsoever  involves  to  some  extent  both  natural  or 
innate  ability  and  the  ability  due  to  training  and  education.  The 
tests  described  in  preceding  chapters  have  already  made  this  fact 
clear.  However,  for  practical  purposes,  tests  may  be  divided 
into  these  two  general  kinds.  When,  therefore,  the  question  of 
vocational  training  or  selection  arises,  the  application  of  these 
tests  makes  it  possible  to  discover  what  the  natural  and  acquired 
abilities  of  an  individual  are  and  under  which  of  the  four  heads 
given  he  is  to  be  classified.  Let  us  take,  for  instance,  the  case 
of  the  candidate  for  apprenticeship.  It  is  necessary  to  discover, 
first  of  all,  what  this  candidate's  training  has  been,  particularly 
his  education  in  mathematics.  In  order  to  ascertain  this  he  is 
given  a  mathematical  test.  This  test  will  indicate  quite  clearly 
whether  the  boy  has  had  the  necessary  preliminary  education 
and  whether  he  is  sufficiently  well  up  on  what  he  has  studied  to 
warrant  immediate  admission  into  the  course.  However,  in 
addition  to  this  it  is  desirable  to  know  whether  the  boy  pos- 
sesses the  right  kind  of  natural  ability  to  make  him  a  successful 
journeyman.  This  is  a  more  subtle  problem;  but  in  order  to 
obtain  a  forecast  of  the  boy's  development,  tests  which  have 
previously  proved  their  significance  in  this  respect  are  given. 
These  tests,  described  in  the  chapter  on  tests  for  apprentices,  do 
not  involve  education  or  training  in  any  particular  subject  but 
rather  the  ability  to  think  and  act  quickly  and  appropriately  in 


282  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

certain  desirable  directions.  When  these  two  facts  have  been 
ascertained;  namely,  the  boy's  education  or  acquired  ability,  and 
his  capacity  or  innate  ability,  it  can  be  intelligently  decided 
whether  or  not  he  should  be  taken  into  the  apprentice  course 
and  trained  in  the  vocation  of  a  tool  maker  or  some  other 
trade.  .  . 

Now,  let  us  suppose  that  the  candidate  shows  by  her  per- 
formance in  the  tests  for  acquired  ability  that  she  has  had  a 
very  poor  training  in  dictation  and  transcribing.  Shall  she  be 
engaged  or  not?  If,  in  addition  to  her  poor  training  in  these 
respects,  she  also  shows  lack  of  education  in  spelling,  grammar, 
and  the  fundamentals  of  the  common-school  education,  it  would 
probably  be  unwise  to  engage  her  for  stenographic  work.  And, 
if  in  addition  to  her  poor  education,  she  displays  a  lack  of  innate 
ability  by  her  performance  in  the  group  of  tests  given  for  this 
purpose,  the  decision  would  be  quite  obvious.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  applicant  has  natural  ability,  a  good  common-school 
education,  and  is  lacking  only  in  ability  to  take  dictation  and 
transcribe,  it  is  very  advisable  to  engage  her  for  a  trial,  or  for 
special  training  in  the  fields  in  which  she  is  weak.  Her  inability 
in  dictation  and  transcribing  may  be  due  to  poor  training  or  to 
poor  opportunities,  and  may  therefore  be  deficiencies  which, 
under  favorable  conditions,  the  natural  capacity  of  the  worker 
can  easily  overcome.  Workers  of  this  kind  are  of  the  utmost 
potential  value,  and  should  be  given  the  most  careful  consider- 
ation by  the  employment  and  educational  branches.  It  is  in  dis- 
covering cases  of  this  kind  that  the  use  of  tests  can  be  of  great 
value  in  helping  industrial  organizations  to  make  the  best  pos- 
sible use  of  the  human  material  at  their  disposal  and  in  pro- 
viding for  the  vocational  adaptation  of  their  employees. 

Wherever  tests  indicate  that  an  applicant  for  a  certain  kind 
of  work  is  poor  in  both  ability  and  training,  it  is  unwise  and 
unprofitable,  from  the  point  of  view  both  of  the  individual  and 
of  the  organization,  to  hire  him  for  that  work.  It  is  advisable, 
in  such  cases,  to  try  out  the  applicant  with  other  tests  in  order 
to  discover  whether  he  is  better  fitted  to  learn  some  other 
kind  of  work.  All  employment  managers  and  educational 
directors  are  troubled  with  the  urgent  pleas  of  candidates  who, 
in  their  opinion,  are  unfit  for  the  work  or  training  they  demand. 
Hitherto  there  has  always  been  a  sense  of  injustice  or  apparent 
injustice  in  situations  of  this  kind  because  the  disappointed 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  283 

candidate  felt  that  he  was  not  being  given  a  square  deal.  And 
as  long  as  it  was  a  question  of  one  man's  judgment  against  that 
of  another,  there  was  always  a  measure  of  truth  in  this  suspicion. 
The  use  of  tests  makes  it  possible  to  decide,  with  much  less 
ambiguity  and  on  much  more  impersonal  grounds,  whether  a 
person  shall  be  chosen  or  not.  Often,  however,  when  an  appli- 
cant is  particularly  insistent  upon  a  trial  at  a  certain  work  or 
training,  it  is  advisable  to  give  him  the  opportunity  even  though 
his  performance  in  the  tests  is  poor.  This  is  because  the 
presence  of  a  genuine  and  driving  ambition  will  sometimes 
take  an  individual  over  the  most  difficult  obstacles.  .  . 

While  it  is  highly  advisable  to  recognize  ambition  and  to 
give  it  its  just  deserts,  it  is  just  as  desirable  to  detect  impulse. 
Very  many  candidates  apply  for  a  certain  kind  of  work  or  a 
certain  course  of  training,  not  because  they  are  extremely  am- 
bitious in  that  direction,  but  because  they  have  heard  from 
some  successful  friend  how  pleasant  the  work  is  and  how  easy 
it  is  to  make  a  high  wage  in  a  short  time.  The  new  candidate 
does  not  stop  to  consider  that  what  is  pleasant  and  profitable 
to  his  friend  may  not  be  equally  pleasant  and  profitable  for 
him.  In  cases  of  this  kind — and  every  employment  office  and 
industry  meets  them  in  abundance — the  verdict  of  the  tests 
should  be  followed.  If  it  is  not,  and  the  ill-adapted  applicant 
is  hired,  the  result  is  quite  likely  to  be  another  turnover.  For 
as  soon  as  the  new  worker  discovers  that  the  work  is  not  quite 
as  enjoyable  and  remunerative  for  him  as  it  is  for  his  friend, 
he  will  probably  leave.  The  vocational  value  of  tests  is  particu- 
larly great  in  this  respect.  Many  useless  and  costly  vocational 
experiments  can  be  eliminated  by  their  application,  and  successful 
ones  made  possible  instead.  .  . 

One  of  the  most  important  factors  in  vocational  selection 
is  the  factor  of  the  individual's  choice.  Many  reasons  determine 
the  individual's  choice  of  a  vocation,  but  nearly  all  of  them 
rest  upon  sotrfe  individual  peculiarly  or  bias.  One  boy  may  want 
to  be  a  blacksmith  because  his  father  was  one.  Another,  for 
the  very  same  reason,  may  want  to  be  anything  but  a  black- 
smith. Another  boy  may  want  to  be  an  automobile  mechanic 
because  he  likes  to  ride  around  the  country.  Still  another  may 
wish  to  become  an  electrician  because  he  has  seen  an  electrician 
doing  some  work  at  his  house  and  the  electrician  good-naturedly 
allowed  him  to  help  with  some  of  the  work.  This  boy's  com- 


284  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

panion  may  want  to  become  an  electrican  also  because  he  wishes 
to  remain  in  the  company  of  his  friend.  In  a  great  many 
strange  ways,  boys  and  girls  acquire  a  deep-rooted  desire  to  be 
or  do  some  particular  thing.  This  desire,  whatever  its  origin 
may  be,  is  one  of  the  most  potent  factors  in  the  vocational 
direction  of  the  individual,  and  many  individuals  are  made 
unhappy  because  circumstances  have  prevented  them  from  fol- 
lowing out  their  chosen  vocation.  An  industrial  organization, 
however,  can  not  be  guided  in  its  selection  by  this  factor  except 
in  a  superficial  way.  Every  organization  is  limited  in  the 
number  of  jobs  and  positions  it  has  to  offer,  and  the  vocational 
guidance  and  training  which  it  gives  are  strictly  limited  accord- 
ingly. The  institution  which  can  best  turn  this  dynamic  force 
of  desire  and  dislike  to  account  is  the  primary  and  secondary 
school,  working  in  conjunction  with  all  the  industries  of  the 
community.  In  the  schools,  where  the  emphasis  is  not  primarily 
on  the  production  of  material  things,  there  is  sufficient  leisure 
and  opportunity  to  give  every  pupil  a  trial  at  his  favorite  work. 
And  there  should  also  be  sufficient  opportunity  for  the  pupil 
at  other  kinds  of  work  in  order  to  provide  a  basis  upon  which 
to  guide  his  likes  and  dislikes  into  the  most  promising 
channels.  .  . 

There  is,  however,  a  strong  tendency  to  confuse  lack  of 
education  with  lack  of  intelligence,  a  tendency  which  has  pro- 
moted much  trouble.  Foremen  and  employment  managers  are 
too  prone  to  think  that  an  illiterate  Pole  or  Russian  or  Italian 
is  far  down  in  the  scale  of  intelligence.  Consequently,  they 
can  not  understand  why  these  stupid  foreigners  should  object 
vigorously  when  they  are  put  at  some  low  grade  of  work,  work 
which  requires  no  manual  or  mental  ingenuity  and  which  is 
often  merely  dirty  and  monotonous.  One  of  the  problems  of 
the  psychologists  is  to  find  tests  which  will  enable  him  to  divorce 
intelligence  from  education,  or  rather  intelligence  from  a  par- 
ticular language.  .  . 

The  vocational  value  of  tests  in  industries  may  now  be 
briefly  summarized.  The  problem  of  every  industrial  organi- 
zation is  to  select  and  train  its  workers  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
make  the  best  possible  use  of  their  abilities.  In  order  to  do  this 
successfully,  it  is  necessary  to  discover  the  exact  ability,  both 
innate  and  acquired,  of  each  individual.  Unless  these  facts  are 
known,  it  becomes  impossible  to  assign  the  individual  to  the 
work  for  which  he  is  best  fitted  or  to  give  him  the  training 


BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES  285 

which  he  deserves.  The  applying  of  psychological  tests  in 
those  fields  where  their  value  has  been  verified  is  the  only 
method,  short  of  the  laborious  and  costly  method  of  trial  and 
error,  which  makes  it  possible  to  discover  these  facts.  Once 
the  potential  and  actual  ability  of  an  individual  has  been  dis- 
covered, the  vocational  selection  or  training  of  that  individual 
can  be  decided  with  a  measurable  degree  of  intelligence. 
Whether  we  interpret  vocation  in  terms  of  work  for  its  own 
sake  or  work  for  the  sake  of  the  reward  which  it  brings,  the  ap- 
plication of  tests  makes  it  possible  to  promote  both  the  interests 
of  the  organization  and  the  welfare  of  the  individual  workers. 


INDUSTRIAL  LESSONS  FROM  ARMY  MENTAL 
TESTS  1 

The  following  discussion  is  quoted  in  the  main,  from  a 
manuscript  by  Major  Yerkes. 

The  convincing  demonstration  of  the  practicability  of  mental 
measurement  in  connection  with  placement  is  one  of  the  con- 
spicuously important  contributions  of  psychological  service  to 
the  Army.  It  is  generally  admitted  by  those  who  have  taken 
the  trouble  to  consider  the  matter,  that  the  methods  prepared 
to  meet  military  needs  have  wide  applicability  and  possibility  of 
indefinitely  increasing  value.  Within  the  Army,  experienced 
officers  as  well  as  men  new  to  the  service  recognize  that  the 
utilization  of  mental  ratings  has  increased  efficiency  by  improv- 
ing placement  and  facilitating  elimination.  Psychological  ser- 
vice has  suddenly  created  a  large  demand  for  technological 
work.  This  demand  is  most  insistent  from  education  and  indus- 
try, although  the  sciences  are  making  their  needs  known.  Be- 
fore the  war  mental  engineering  was  a  dream ;  today  it  exists, 
and  its  effective  development  is  amply  assured.  .  . 

Within  the  industrial  sphere,  as  contrasted  with  educational, 
intelligent  employment  management  requires  abundant  informa- 
tion and  the  development  and  use  of  scientific  methods.  Indi- 
viduals, if  hired  and  placed  at  random,  seldom  hold  their  jobs 
for  more  than  a  few  days.  The  enormous  labor  turnover  of 
many  industrial  concerns  is  due  chiefly  to  three  causes :  (a)  the 
relative  unfitness  by  nature  or  training  of  the  individual  for  the 

1 C.  S.  Yoakum  and  R.  M.  Yerkes.  Army  Mental  Tests,  p.  196-7, 
199-201.  Henry  Holt  and  Co.  New  York.  1920. 


286  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

work  assigned,  (b)  unsatisfactory  conditions  of  labor,  (c)  the 
mechanization  and  the  resulting  dehumanizing  of  industrial 
processes. 

For  wise  and  effective  industrial  placement  and  occupational 
guidance,  two  things  at  least  are  absolutely  essential :  first,  defi- 
nite knowledge  of  the  physical  and  mental  requirements  (speci- 
fication) of  the  job,  and  second,  equally  definite  knowledge  of 
the  physical  and  mental  characteristics  and  capacities  of  the  in- 
dividual to  be  placed. 

If  these  requirements  are  to  be  met  satisfactorily,  occupa- 
tions will  have  to  be  carefully  analyzed  in  their  relations  to  the 
individual  and  definite  specifications  will  have  to  be  prepared. 
In  addition,  individuals  will  have  to  be  classified  in  accordance 
with  intelligence,  temperament,  education  and  occupational 
taste  or  preference.  It  is  now  possible  to  prepare  specifications 
and  suitably  to  classify  individuals  with  reference  to  intelligence, 
education  and  occupational  taste. 

For  the  present,  at  least,  it  is  probable  that  if  three  grades  of 
intellect  were  distinguished  in  industry,  as  has  been  suggested 
for  the  school,  a  very  great  gain  would  be  a  degree  of  fitness  of 
the  individual  for  his  task,  and  in  his  resulting  content  and  effi- 
ciency. 

Concerning  temperamental  measurement  and  classification, 
there  is  little  to  say,  for  the  methods  at  once  simple  and  reliable 
are  not  yet  available.  It  is  nevertheless  obvious  that  tempera- 
ment is  as  important  as  intelligence  for  industrial  placement  and 
vocational  guidance.  Despite  the  seemingly  infinite  variety  of 
temperaments,  there  are  probably  just  a  few  classes  which  have 
great  occupational  importance.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  that  even 
three  classes,  as  in  the  case  of  intelligence,  might  suffice  for  im- 
mediate practical  requirements,  could  we  but  devise  methods  of 
measuring  temperamental  characteristics  as  satisfactory  as  those 
now  used  for  measuring  intelligence. 


THE  NEED  OF  CONSTANT  VERIFICATIONS  a 

In  connection  with  the  inventory  of  each  man's  abilities,  tests 
to  measure  proficiency  in  each  of  about  a  hundred  trades  were 
devised,  in  eight  months  from  March,  1918.  By  the  end  of  Oc- 

1 E   L.   Thorndike.     Science.     Vol.  49.    1919.   p.   56-8,  60. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  287 

tober  these  tests  were  in  regular  operation  in  twenty-one  can- 
tonments, and  about  one  hundred  twenty-five  thousand  men 
had  been  tested.  Their  operation  made  it  sure  that  a  man  said 
to  be  journeyman  ship-carpenter  really  could  do  the  work  of  a 
journeyman  ship-carpenter  if  he  was  to  be  sent  to  the  Emer- 
gency Fleet  Corporation  as  such ;  that  a  man  said  to  be  a  skilled 
truck-driver  really  could  drive  a  truck  as  required  in  war-work, 
if  he  was  to  be  sent  to  France  for  that  work,  that  in  general 
each  man's  statements  and  reported  career  were  checked  by  ob- 
jective tests  and  measurements. 

These  trade  tests  were  devised  to  fit  the  needs  of  the  army 
in  the  war  emergency  and  did  so.  They  would  need  modifica- 
tion and  extension  to  meet  the  needs  of  employers,  labor 
•unions,  civil-service  examining  boards  and  the  like.  But  the 
principles  and  methods  according  to  which  they  were  made  have 
been  fully  justified.  To  the  question  "How  well  does  individual 
A  know  trade  I?"  we  can  obtain  a  definite  quantitative  answer 
and  can  reduce  its  probable  error  to  harmless  dimensions.  Just 
as  we  framed  standard,  workable,  convenient,  inexpensive,  ob- 
jective instruments  to  make  sure  that  men  assigned  to  certain 
work  in  the  army  could  do  that  work  satisfactorily,  so  we  could 
upon  order  frame  instruments  which  labor  unions  or  civil  ser- 
vice boards  could  use  as  admission  examinations,  which  econ- 
omists or  business  men  could  use  in  investigations  of  wages  and 
production,  or  which  a  local  survey  could  use  in  an  intimate 
study  of  the  total  life  of  a  community.  .  '. •' 

Early  in  the  war,  the  problem  of  selecting  from  a  given 
number  of  men  those  best  fitted  for  rapid  training  as  gun  point- 
ers on  ship-board  was  referred  to  the  Subcommittee  on  the 
Psychology  of  Special  Abilities,  and  at  their  request  referred  to 
Dr.  Raymond  Dodge.  He  studied  the  task  of  the  gun-trainer 
and  pointer,  the  situations  and  responses  involved,  the  methods 
of  testing  their  ability  then  in  use,  the  men  from  whom  selec- 
tions would  be  made,  and  the  practical  conditions  which  any 
system  of  selection  for  this  work  must  meet.  He  had  the  prob- 
lem of  imitating  the  apparent  movements  of  the  target  which 
are  caused  by  the  rolling  and  pitching  of  the  gun-platform  as 
a  distant  object  would  appear  to  a  gun-pointer  on  a  destroyer, 
a  battleship  or  an  armed  merchantman.  He  solved  this  by  mov- 
ing the  imitation  target  through  a  series  of  combined  sine 
curves  at  variable  speeds  by  a  simple  set  of  eccentrics,  motor- 


288  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

run.  He  had  the  problem  of  imitating  the  essentials  of  the  con- 
trol of  the  gun  by  the  gun-pointer  and  of  recording  in  a  fullei 
and  more  convenient  form  the  exact  nature  of  the  gunner's  reac- 
tions in  picking  up  the  target,  in  getting  on  the  bulls-eye,  in  keep- 
ing on,  in  firing  when  he  was  on,  and  in  following  through.  He 
solved  these  by  a  simple  graphic  record  showing  all  these  reac- 
tions on  a  single  line  that  could  be  accurately  measured,  or 
roughly  estimated. 

Subsequently  he  made  an  apparatus  that  could  be  used  not 
only  to  test  a  prospective  gun-pointer's  ability,  but  also  to  train 
both  gun-trainers  and  firing  gun-pointers  four  at  a  time.  The 
demand  for  these  instruments  has  been  so  great  that  sixty  have 
been  built  for  the  Navy  for  use  at  short  training  stations.  The 
success  of  this  led  to  further  similar  work,  especially  on  the 
problem  of  the  listener,  the  lookout  and  the  fire  control  party.  .  . 

The  applied  psychology  or  human  engineering  which  has 
been  developing  so  rapidly  in  the  last  decade  has  learned,  in  the 
war,  if  not  before,  that  nothing  short  of  the  best  in  either  ideas 
or  men  can  do  its  work.  Applied  psychology  is  much  more  than 
cleverness  and  common  sense  using  the  facts  and  principles 
found  in  the  standard  texts.  It  is  scientific  work,  research  on 
problems  of  human  nature  complicated  by  conditions  of  the  shop 
or  school  or  army,  restricted  by  time  and  labor  cost,  and  directed 
by  imperative  needs. 

The  secret  of  success  in  applied  psychology  or  human  engi- 
neering is  to  be  rigorously  scientific.  On  every  occasion  when 
the  principles  of  sound  procedure  were  relaxed  because  of  some 
real  or  fancied  necessity,  the  work  suffered.  The  chief  prin- 
ciples in  much  of  this  personnel  work  concerned  obtaining  data 
from  the  sources  possessed  of  fullest  and  most  intimate  knowl- 
edge, working  only  with  data  of  measured  reliability,  determin- 
ing the  significance  of  facts  by  their  proved  consequences  and 
correlations,  and  verifying  conclusions  by  a  prophecy  and  ex- 
periment. Whenever  we  made  the  extra  effort  and  sacrifice 
necessary  to  tap  the  best  sources  of  information  about  a  man, 
rather  than  the  next  to  the  best,  there  was  a  gain.  When  we 
took  pains  to  compute  the  reliability  coefficients  of  all  our  data 
before  going  further  with  them,  we  saved  time  in  the  long  run. 
Every  failure  to  check  apparent  meaning  by  objective  correla- 
tions was  disastrous.  An  unverified  hypothesis  may  possibly  be 
a  relatively  harmless  luxury  if  all  one  does  with  it  is  to  think; 
to  act  on  it  is  a  grave  danger. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  289 

Making  psychology  for  business  or  industry  or  the  army  Is 
harder  than  making  psychology  for  other  psychologists,  and 
intrinsically  requires  higher  talents.  The  scientist  doing  work 
for  the  inspection  of  other  men  of  science  is  in  large  measure 
free  to  choose  his  topics,  and  to  follow  up  any  one  important  out- 
come regardless  of  what  task  he  originally  set  himself.  The 
scientist  who  is  assigned  a  problem  and  is  without  credit  if,  in- 
stead of  its  answer,  he  produces  something  eventually  far  more 
important,  has  to  be  more  adaptable,  more  persistent  and  more 
ingenious,  if  he  is  to  succeed  equally  often.  It  is  relatively  easy 
to  be  scientific  when  you  can  direct  your  talent  in  any  one  of 
ten  thousand  directions;  yourself  asking  the  questions  for  which 
you  proceed  to  find  answers !  Psychology  applied  to  the  com- 
plicated problems  of  personnel  work  represents  scientific  re- 
search of  the  most-  subtle,  involved,  and  laborious  type. 


A  CAUTION  AGAINST  OVER-EXPECTATIONS1 

A  majority  of  the  writers  on  this  subject  have  been  willing 
to  admit,  as  did  Dr.  Hugo  Munsterberg,  that  "completed  investi- 
gations do  not  as  yet  exist  in  this  field,"  but  the  sanguine  tone 
of  their  reports  coupled  with  the  natural  desire  of  employers 
to  find  quicker  and  surer  methods  for  selecting  workers  has  led 
to  a  great  deal  of  misplaced  faith  in  the  utility  of  psychological 
tests  and  experiments. 

The  following  points  ought  to  be  very  carefully  considered 
by  any  firm  that  contemplates  the  introduction  of  methods  of 
this  sort. 

1.  Aside  from  modifications  of  the  Binet  scale  for  determin- 
ing mental  ability,  there  are  no  tests  which  have  been  tried  on 
a  sufficient  number  of  individuals  to  give  standards  that  are  in 
any  degree  trustworthy.    Even  the  modified  Binet  standards  are 
not  to  be  depended  upon  for  persons  over  fifteen  years  of  age. 

2.  Better  methods  of  securing  standards  must  be  devised  in 
order  to  obviate  errors  arising  from  chance  samplings.     Because 
of  the   small  number  of  individuals  examined,  it  is  likely  that 
many  of  the  proposed  tests  fail  to  cover  the  full  range  of  the 
abilities  or  qualities  tested. 

1Roy  W.  Kelly.  Hiring  the  Worker,  p.  93-7.  The  Engineering 
Magazine  Company.  New  York.  1918. 


290  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

3.  The  low  percentage  of  correlation  between  the  results  of 
tests  so  far  proposed  and  the  success  of  individuals  in  the  occu- 
pations implies  that  injustice  is  certain  to  be  done  in  many  cases, 
if  the  standards  set  are  applied  indiscriminately  and  without  the 
exercise  of  careful  judgment. 

4.  Results  from  the  tests  now  offered  cannot  be  successfully 
interpreted  by  persons  who  lack  a  wide  experience  in  psycholog- 
ical methods.     Their  use  ought  not  to  be  recommended  indis- 
criminately to  employment  managers  who  are  not  fully  prepared 
to  carry  on  work  that  still  partakes  very  much  of  the  nature  of 
research  experimentation,  and  who  lack  the  training  in  statistical 
methods  required  for  the  interpretation  of  results  and  the  com- 
pilation of  new  standards. 

5.  The  best  psychological  tests  so  far  devised  seem  to  be 
those  which  create  situations  as  nearly  as  possible  like  the  actual 
shop  task. 


JOB  ANALYSIS  TO  CORRELATE  WITH  HUMAN 
ANALYSIS  x 

Every  worker  should  be  placed  in  that  position  where  he  has 
the  best  possible  chance  to  make  the  most  of  himself.  This  must 
be  interpreted  as  consistent  with  the  larger  interests  of  society 
as  a  whole.  Our  practice  is  diverse  from  this  principle.  Thus 
one  practice  which  may  seem  far  afield  but  one  which  played  a 
very  large  part  in  the  history  of  the  world  is  a  caste  system,  such 
as  that  of  India,  where  "by  the  will  of  the  gods"  people  are 
placed  in  a  particular  calling.  Similarly  the  guilds  of  Europe 
determine  the  vocations  which  a  person  should  be  allowed  to 
enter.  The  mere  proximity  of  the  job  and  the  available  jobs 
have  played  too  large  a  part  in  our  practice.  Lastly,  social  ap- 
proval of  certain  jobs  and  disapproval  of  others  play  a  very 
large  part  at  present  in  vocational  placement  in  America. 

If  we  should  attempt  to  analyze  the  reasons  which  have 
brought  us  to  the  jobs  that  we  now  occupy,  we  might  find  that 
the  general  practices  here  referred  to  are  significant  factors. 

1  Walter  Dill  Scott.  Annals  of  American  Academy.  Vol.  90.  1921- 
p.  139-40. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  291 

Practices  for  Placements  in  Industry 

Here  are  some  of  the  practices  which  have  been  believed  in 
and  followed  by  wise  men  in  all  ages  for  placements  in  indus- 
try. No  man  believes  in  very  many  but  most  men  believe  in 
some.  Astrology,  augury,  chance  as  manifested  in  drawing  of 
straws,  casting  of  lots  or  the  flipping  of  a  coin,  chirography, 
chiromancy,  character  analysis,  divination,  fortune-telling,  horo- 
scopes, hypnotism,  intuition,  magic,  mediums,  mind-reading, 
necromancy,  omens,  occultism,  oracles,  palmistry,  phrenology, 
physiognomy,  premonitions,  psychological  tests,  sooth-saying, 
sorcery,  sortilege,  sub-conscious  hunches,  stigmata,  talisman, 
trade  tests  and  telepathy  are  some  of  these  practices. 

If  we  do  not  follow  these  practices  in  placing  the  individual 
in  employment  then  we  must  depend  upon  the  judgment  of  the 
maiden  school-teacher,  the  indulgent  mother,  the  ambitious 
father,  the  listless  recruiting  officer,  the  mercenary  employment 
agent,  or  worse  yet,  the  indifferent  employment  clerk.  Vocational 
guidance  has  been  wholly  unscientific  and  unsatisfactory.  People 
have  not  been  placed  with  adequate  care.  Our  practice  has  fal- 
len far  short  of  our  principle.  Indeed,  our  practice  cannot  come 
up  to  the  principle  until  the  necessary  preliminary  steps  have 
been  taken.  These  preliminary  steps  may  be  analyzed. 

Judging  Applicants  and  Workers 

We  cannot  place  people  wisely  until  we  have  developed  a 
skill  and  a  technique  of  judging  applicants,  whether  that  judg- 
ment be  based  on  previous  experience,  whether  it  be  based  on 
the  desire  of  the  individual  and  his  interest,  whether  it  be  based 
on  some  objective  measurement  of  skill  or  of  capacities — or  an 
interpretation  based  upon  actual  accomplishments  in  present 
tasks — or  whatever  it  is,  we  must  develop  a  technique  of  judging 
people  before  we  begin  an  adequate  system  of  scientific  place- 
ment. 

Job  Description 

We  cannot  place  people  in  positions  until  we  know  the  posi- 
tions; that  is,  we  must  make  an  adequate  occupational  descrip- 
tion of  every  job  in  the  house  to  which  the  person  appears  as 
an  applicant  or  in  which  he  exists  as  a  worker,  before  we  can 
place  people  where  they  belong.  That  description  must  include 


292  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

many  items,  e.g.,  the  experience  essential;  the  duties  and  re- 
sponsibilities; the  conditions  under  which  the  work  is  per- 
formed; how  each  particular  job  falls  in  with  the  other  parts 
of  the  organization,  the  kind  of  a  man  necessary,  the  induce- 
ments provided.  A  whole  list  of  items  must  be  provided  on 
every  job  before  we  know  whether  any  particular  individual  is 
adequately  adjusted  to  that  position. 

We  cannot  place  people  wisely  until  we  have  instituted  a  per- 
sonnel staff  with  adequate  training  and  interest  to  make  a  study 
of  employees  and  applicants,  and  a  study  of  jobs;  and  with 
authority  to  place  the  workers  where  they  belong,  and  to  pro- 
Vide  opportunities  for  change  and  promotion. 

When  we  have  taken  these  steps  we  are  then  in  a  position  to 
begin  to  place  people  where  they  may  be  contented,  where  they 
may  render  the  greatest  service  to  the  company  and  where  every 
individual  will  have  the  best  possible  chance  to  make  the  most 
of  himself.  Labor  will  not  be  stable  until  we  have  adequate 
placement. 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  TRADE  TESTS 1 

There  are  two  fundamental  criteria  which  a  trade  test  must 
satisfy : 

1.  It    must    differentiate    between    men    of    varying    trade 
abilities  and  knowledge. 

2.  Its  ratings  must  be  objective. 

No  test  can  be  considered  satisfactory  unless,  in  the  first 
place,  it  distinguishes  the  person  with  no  specific  trade  experi- 
ence, whom  we  may  call  the  novice,  from  the  apprentice  who 
has  spent  some  little  time  in  his  trade.  It  must  also  distinguish 
the  ordinary  apprentice  or  learner  or  helper  from  the  average 
skilled  workman.  In  addition,  if  the  test  is  to  have  its  maximum 
usefulness,  it  should  also  enable  us  to  differentiate  the  ordinary 
tradesman  from  the  workman  who  is  exceptionally  skilled  or 
has  had  exceptional  experience.  The  ability  which  a  test  has 
to  make  these  distinctions  may  be  called  its  differentiating 
power.  Whenever  the  word  "differentiating"  is  used,  we  must 
bear  in  mind  that  it  is  a  relative  term.  When  we  say  that  a 
trade  test  must  differentiate,  all  that  is  implied  is  that  it  must 

*J.  Crosby  Chapman.  Trade  Tests,  p.  17-19.  Henry  Holt  and  Com- 
pany. New  York.  1921. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  293 

distinguish  between  individuals  who  differ  by  a  certain  amount 
in  trade  ability.  Thus,  for  example,  a  test  may  well  serve  to 
differentiate  between  the  individual  who  has  one  year's  trade 
experience  and  the  individual  who  has  five  years'  trade  experi- 
ence, but  it  may  be  expected  to  fail  to  differentiate  between  the 
individual  who  has  had  eighteen  months  and  another  who  has 
completed  nineteen  months.  We  shall,  therefore,  find  it  necessary 
at  a  later  stage  to  define  with  great  exactness  precisely  the 
groups  between  which  we  expect  the  tests  to  distinguish.  Any 
method  of  testing  ability  which  will  make  this  differentiation  be- 
tween the  novice,  apprentice,  journeyman  and  expert  has  the 
widest  application  in  the  realms  of  selection  and  promotion 
within  the  industry. 

The  second  requirement,  which  we  shall  refer  to  as  that  of 
objectivity,  is  so  closely  related  to  the  first  that  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  consider  them  separately  chiefly  for  convenience  in 
thought.  Unless  a  test  is  objective,  the  rating  which  is  given  will 
vary  from  examiner  to  examiner.  The  ratings  which  are  made 
at  one  time  and  at  one  place  will  not  correspond  with  the  rat- 
ings at  another  time  and  place.  Thus,  while  the  measuring  rod 
may  be  used  to  divide  men  roughly  into  three  classes — tall,  med- 
ium and  short — thereby  fulfilling  the  differentiating  function, 
much  of  the  advantage  of  the  measurement  is  lost  unless  for 
each  individual  or  group  of  individuals  the  specific  measure- 
ments are  given  and  are  recorded  in  units  or  in  terms  upon 
which  all  are  agreed. 

Outline 

With  this  general  introduction  we  are  in  a  position  to  discuss 
the  various  types  of  trade  test  which  were  employed  in  the  army. 
The  succeeding  chapters  will,  therefore,  deal  in  order  with : 

1.  Oral  trade  test  methods. 

2.  Picture  trade  test  methods. 

3.  Performance  trade  test  methods. 

4.  Written  trade  test  methods. 


LIMITATIONS  OF  MENTAL  TESTS  1 

V   If    experimental    psychology    has    shown    anything,    it    has 
demonstrated  that  capacity  for  improvement  varies  greatly  with 

*H.  D.  Kitson.     School  Review.     Vol.  24.    1916.    p.  208-13. 


294  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

different  individuals,  and  the  initial  standing  in  a  test  does  not 
indicate  what  the  standing  will  be  in  successive  performances.  I 
This  brings  up  the  question  how  far  the  individual  may  be 
trained  in  an  activity,  and  when  one  observes  the  astounding  in- 
creases in  capacity  displayed  in  every  day  life  one  hesitates  to 
limit  the  individual  to  any  single  vocational  possibility.  How 
to  arrange  conditions  of  testing  so  as  to  provide  for  this  is  prob- 
lematic. Perhaps  learning  tests  will  be  arranged  whereby  one 
learns  laboratory  samples  of  activities  in  the  vocations  under 
consideration.  At  any  rate  it  is  clear  that  any  system  of  tests 
must  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  the  first  test  does  not 
measure  ultimate  ability. 

The  current  doctrine  is  further  befogged  by  its  neglect  of 
the  volitional  factor  in  human  endeavor.  Behind  all  specific 
capacities  lies  something  that  is  loosely  called  will,  character, 
volition,  etc.  It  has  to  do  with  the  exercise  of  mental  traits 
which  are  not  directly  measurable,  at  least  not  readily  isolated. 
Psychological  tests  appear  to  be  limited  when  one  undertakes  to 
measure  such  traits  as  industry,  persistence,  honesty,  etc.,  and 
the  limitations  make  it  impossible  to  predict  what  reaction  will 
take  place  in  future  situations.  The  psychologist  is  forced  to 
conclude  that  careers  of  willing,  variable  humans  cannot  be 
mapped  out  with  scientific  precision,  as  are  the  courses  of  the 
planets.  Professor  James  pointed  this  out  when  he  wrote, 
"However  closely  psychical  changes  may  conform  to  law,  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  individual  histories  and  biographies  will  never 
be  written  in  advance,  no  matter  how  'evolved'  psychology  may 
become". 

^.  Most  persons  will  agree  that  it  is  possible  by  means  of 
psychological  tests  to  distinguish  between  an  individual  who  is 
characteristically  slow  and  one  who  is  characteristically  fast ; 
between  one  who  is  characteristically  accurate  and  one  who  is 
characteristically  inaccurate,  as  these  characteristics  are  in  cx- 
tremest  form.  It  also  is  possible  to  grade  people  with  respect  to 
the  presence  of  certain  qualities  of  ingeniousness,  ability  to 
adjust  to  new  situations,  etc.  The  methods  for  accomplishing 
these  ends,  however,  are  still  far  from  standardized,  and  vast 
areas  of  technical  ground  mu§t  be  covered  before  the  tests  will 
have  vocational  significance.  ^ 

Dr.  Walter  Dill  Scott  of  Northwestern  University  has  been 
using  psychological  tests  in  the  selection  of  salesmen,  making 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  295 

measurements  of  association-time,  accuracy  of  reasoning,  mem- 
ory, etc.  It  should  be  mentioned  that  the  psychological  tests  are 
not  the  sole  criteria  by  which  selection  is  made;  measurements 
are  also  made  from  physiological  and  sociological  standpoints, 
and  judgments  of  experienced  employers  are  used.  The  method 
employed  by  Dr.  Scott,  it  will  be  observed  enables  one  to  make 
selections  on  an  eliminative  basis.  The  results  of  the  tests  are 
used  to  admit  men  only  to  the  position  of  salesman.  As  to  his 
fitness  for  other  occupations  nothing  is  said.  Out  of  a  number 
of  applicants  for  a  position,  the  attempt  is  simply  made  to  select 
the  one  who  shows  the  greatest  mental  ability.  He  is  hired  on 
the  supposition  that  with  high  records  in  the  mental  traits  tested 
plus  interest  and  experience,  he  would  be  most  likely  to  meet  the 
exacting  conditions  of  the  selling  occupations.  Psychological  tests 
are  similarly  used  at  the  University  of  Chicago  as  an  aid  in 
designating  students,  for  honor  courses.  A  group  of  tests  is  used 
which  exercises  var)pus  kinds  of  mental  ability,  and  students 
who  stand  highest  in  the  tests  are  considered  likely  timber  for 
advancement  in  the  special  courses.  The  results  of  such  a  group 
of  tests  permit  the  assignment  of  ranks  on  the  basis  of  amount 
of  mental  ability  possessed  without  specifying  relation  to  partic- 
ular occupational  tasks,  lit  is  quite  astonishing  to  see  how 
surely  psychological  tests  will  pick  out  the  brightest  persons  in 
a  group.J  All  that  is  needed  is  a  group  of  good  tests  measuring 
fundamental  types  of  mental  activity,  and  some  method  of  com- 
bining the  records  in  the  several  tests  into*  a  resultant  score. 
This  gives  basis  for  a  quantitative  statement  of  amount  of  in- 
telligence. The  qualitative  statement  which  involves  specifica- 
tion with  respect  to  occupations  is  another  problem,  and  is  the 
next  step  to  be  taken  by  experimental  psychology. 


XVI.  THE  FAR-REACHING  CONSEQUEN- 
CES OF  FEAR  IN  INDUSTRY 

THE  MENACE  OF  THE  FEAR  DISCIPLINE  x 

The  most  demoralizing  of  industrial  poisons  is  the  poison  of 
fear  and  fear  of  joblessness  pervades  the  work-relation. 

All  that  Professor  Cannon  of  the  Harvard  Medical  School 
has  taught  us  about  the  striking  bodily  reactions  of  strong  emo- 
tions such  as  worry,  anger  and  fear,  we  can  without  violence  to 
language  translate  into  industrial  terms,  and  visualize  some  such 
effects  and  consequences  taking  place  in  a  field  where  human 
nature  and  its  attitude  are  so  decisive — the  field  of  industrial 
relations. 

No  one  who  is  alive  to  the  economic  importance  of  industrial 
good-will  can  be  indifferent  to  the  havoc  from  unsteady  employ- 
ment on  industrial  morale,  efficiency,  and  organisation  itself. 

Irregular  work  means  irregular  manhood,  and  irregular  in- 
dustrial loyalties.  No  program  for  output,  no  progressive  or- 
ganization, is  possible  against  the  undertow  of  intermittent  work. 

Picture  what  a  recurrence  of  bank  failures  would  do  to  our 
credit  system !  As  in  finance,  mutual  confidence  is  the  bedrock 
of  industrial  relations,  indeed  of  production  itself,  and  nothing 
tends  to  shatter  this  system  of  mutual  confidence  so  surely  as 
recurring  work-failures. 

Regarded  from  any  standpoint  the  situation  is  too  wasteful 
to  be  tolerated.  Industrial  relations  can  no  more  prosper  where 
work  is  spasmodic  than  can  industrial  habits  in  a  country  af- 
flicted with  crop  failure  and  famine.  Reasonable  security  of  em- 
ployment is  the  first  step  in  any  genuine  industrial  relation  pro- 
gram. It  conditions  everything  that  follows.  It  is  the  mother  of 
industrial  morale.  Joblessness  is  next  to  godlessness. 

1  Meyer  Bloomfield.  Steady  Work:  The  First  Step  in  Sound  Industrial 
Relations.  American  Labor  Legislation  Review.  Vol.  n.  p.  38-40.  March, 
1921. 


2Q8  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

EFFECTS  OF  FEAR  ON  THE  WORKER'S 
THINKING  l 

.  .  .  And  when  a  man  has  no  job  or  when  he  is  simply  in 
the  grip  of  fear  that  all  the  future  is  going  to  be  just  as  bad 
as  the  present,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  having  the  rest  of  the 
circle  all  right.  It  is  impossible  to  lay  too  much  emphasis  on  the 
way  in  which  men  come  into  what  we  think  are  strange  ideas  and 
strange  feelings,  as  the  result  of  the  lack  of  a  job,  the  irregu- 
larity of  a  job,  the  unsteadiness  of  a  job,  the  insecurity  of  a  job. 

One  of  the  first  effects  of  such  uncertainty  is  to  make  men 
begin  to  feel  favorable  to  the  restriction  of  output. 

It  is  hard  to  blame  a  man  for  not  keeping  a  close  eye  upon 
the  pile  of  rough  material  that  means  his  job,  as  he  sees  the  pile 
getting  smaller,  and  the  pile  of  finished  material  growing  larger 
and  larger.  It  is  hard  for  that  man  not  to  go  slow,  when  he 
realizes  that  at  five  o'clock  when  the  whistle  blows,  the  boss  may 
come  to  him  and  say:  "Joe,  this  will  get  you  your  time.  Won't 
need  you  in  the  morning.  Ye  see,  th'  work's  all  done." 

This  summer,  outside  of  the  great  dock  in  London,  I  found 
a  man  who  had  only  about  three  days  work  as  a  docker  in  about 
six  weeks.  I  tried  to  cheer  him  up  by  saying:  "Well,  Jack,  I 
saw  a  lot  of  men  down  there  in  the  Surrey  dock  that  were  un- 
loading about  six  thousand  tons  of  frozen  beef  from  the  Ar- 
gentine, and  they  were  piece-workers,  I  understand,  and  they 
were  making  fifty  shillings."  I  couldn't  have  gotten  more  of  a 
rise  out  of  the  man  if  I  had  slapped  him  in  the  face.  He  said : 
"Yes,  I  know  them  fellows.  Them's  the  fellows  that's  takin'  the 
bread  and  butter  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  wives  and  children  of 
such  workmen  as  you  and  me.  Them's  the  fellows  that's  doin' 
three  days'  work  in  one.  It  ain't  right,  I  tell  you !  But  what  do 
they  care,  as  long  as  they  get  their  time — the  rest  of  us  can 
starve !" 

There  was  another  man  on  the  same  dock,  who  said  to  me: 
"Well,  you'll  be  knowin'  the  reason  for  this  'ere  lack  of  work, 
I  suppose. 

"Well,"  he  explained,  "of  course  it's  this  'ere  more  produc- 
tion propaganda.  'More  production — more  production!'  they 

1  Whiting  Williams.  The  Job  and  Utopia.  American  Labor  Legislation 
Review.  Vol.  n.  p.  13-23.  March,  1921. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  299 

say.  Well,  it's  bloody  lucky  that  some  of  us  don't  'eed  it,  or 
there  wouldn't  be  no  jobs  for  any  of  us." 

Then,  too,  I  am  quite  sure  that  the  unsteadiness  of  the  job 
does  perhaps  more  than  anything  else  to  substantiate  the  un- 
avoidable and  the  inevitable  conflict  between  the  employer  and 
employee.  When  the  wheels  of  industry  suddenly  stop  as  they 
are  stopping  today,  it  appears  to  prove  to  the  worker  that  his 
idea  of  too  much  production  is  absolutely  right.  And  I  have  not 
a  doubt  that  today  men  all  over  this  country — ivorkingmen — arc 
saying  what  I  heard  them  saying  in  Great  Britain;  that  of  course 
with  all  the  need  there  is  of  materials,  with  all  the  ways  in  which 
the  world  has  run  out  of  its  supplies,  this  sudden  stopping  of 
the  wheels  of  production  means  absolutely  only  one  thing — that 
the  employers  have  brought  it  about  for  teaching  labor  its  place. 

Every  time  we  have  a  cessation  of  work,  or  every  day  that 
we  have  an  unsteady  job,  conflict  is  being  registered,  making 
education  more  and  more  difficult.  Therefore,  the  common  in- 
terests of  all  of  us  are  involved  in  this  matter  of  the  steadiness 
of  industry. 

But  the  most  important  aspect  of  this  unsteadiness  of  the 
job,  this  irregularity  of  work,  is  that  it  destroys  men's  moral 
fibre. 

We  are  too  apt  to  think  that  the  job  is  simply  a  matter  of 
bread  and  butter.  That  idea,  I  think,  misses  the  biggest  factor 
in  the  psychology  of  the  worker,  which  is  that  men  think  of  their 
jobs  as  offering  to  them  the  chief  basis  for  their  self-respect.  .  . 
The  irregularity  and  uncertainty  of  the  job  probably  does  more 
than  anything  else  to  open  men's  thinkings  (if  you  can  say 
"thinkings,"  because  it  is  really  their  feelings)  to  the  words  of 
the  radical  who  wants  to  sweep  everything  away  by  means  of  a 
sudden  bloody  revolution,  and  take  a  new  start. 


INDUSTRIAL  LESSONS  FROM  WAR  DANGERS 
AND  FEARS  x 

Fear  is  the  emotional  or  affective  aspect  of  the  instinctive 
process  called  into  activity  by  danger.  It  is  the  modification  of 
consciousness  which  accompanies  certain  instinctive  forms  of 

1  W.  H.  R.  Rivers.  Instinct  and  the  Unconscious.  The  J^acmillan 
Company.  1920.  p.  241-6,  Reprinted  by  permission. 


300  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

action  in  response  to  danger,  and  especially  the  response  by 
flight.  It  is  especially  intense  when  there  is  interference  with 
this  or  any  other  form  of  reaction  to  danger.  . 

Reaction  to  actual  danger — The  most  frequent  reaction  to 
danger  in  man  is  one  of  heightened  capacity  for  the  activities 
by  which  the  danger  may  be  met  without  any  trace  of  the  fear 
which,  if  present,  would  inevitably  interfere  with  this  capacity. 
A  man  in  the  presence  of  danger  will  carry  out  with  the  utmost 
coolness,  and  often  with  a  degree  of  skill  surpassing  that  which 
he  usually  shows,  the  measures  necessary  for  the  aversion  of  the 
danger  or  his  escape  from  it.  In  such  a  case  there  is  complete 
suppression  of  the  emotion  of  fear  which  the  danger  might  be 
expected  to  produce,  and  this  suppression  is  nearly  always  accom- 
panied by  suppression  of  pain,  so  that  an  injury  derived  from 
the  dangerous  object,  or  from  any  other  source,  is  not  perceived. 

A  second  mode  of  reaction  is  the  assumption  of  an  aggressive 
attitude  toward  the  source  of  danger  with  the  accompaniment 
of  the  affective  state  of  anger.  In  this  case  there  is  not 
simply  a  suppression  of  fear,  but  its  place  is  taken  by  another 
emotion  belonging  to  the  instinct  of  aggression.  If  these  lines 
of  action  fail,  if  the  serviceable  activity  which  would  lead  to 
escape  from  the  danger  is  interfered  with  or  becomes  impossible 
to  carry  out,  or  if  the  aggressive  reaction  does  not  succeed,  fear 
supervenes  as  an  accompaniment  either  of  flight  or  of  the  col- 
lapse which  is  apt  to  occur  when  the  more  normal  and  service- 
able reactions  fail.  In  some  cases,  however,  the  suppression  of 
fear  is  so  well  established  that  this  emotion  remains  completely 
absent  even  when  the  danger  is  so  insistent  and  unavoidable 
that  death  or  violent  injury  is  inevitable.  Thus,  the  emotion  of 
fear  may  be  completely  absent  during  the  fall  and  crash  of  an 
aeroplane  in  which  death  seems  certain,  being  replaced  by  an 
interest  such  as  might  be  taken  by  the  mere  witness  of  a  spec- 
tacle, or  by  some  apparently  trivial  line  of  thought.  It  is  when 
some  line  of  action  is  still  possible,  but  this  action  is  recognized 
to  be  fruitless  and  in  vain,  that  fear,  often  in  the  acute  form  we 
call  terror,  is  likely  to  supervene. 

Reactions  to  prospective  danger.  The  state  most  commonly 
produced  by  prospective  danger  is  one  of  that  degree  of  fear 
which  we  call  apprehension.  This  may  be  so  intense  as  to  be- 
come indistinguishable  from  the  fear  which  accompanies  the 
actual  presence  of  danger,  but  it  is  more  usually  a  vague  dis- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  301 

comfort,  with  minor  degrees  of  the  tremor  and  muscular  weak- 
ness which  accompany  fear.  .  . 

Still  another  form  of  fear  is  the  more  or  less  persistent  state 
of  anxiety  which  forms  so  prominent  a  feature  of  the  functional 
nervous  disorders  arising  out  of  warfare  that  has  been  adopted 
in  the  nomenclature  of  one  of  the  most  frequent  forms  taken  by 
these  disorders.  In  the  healthy  person  anxiety  is  a  state  which 
comes  into  existence  in  consequence  of  some  prospective  misfor- 
tune or  danger,  but  in  morbid  conditions  it  shows  itself  in  the 
form  of  more  or  less  continuous  apprehension  colouring  the 
whole  mental  life,  so  that  even  the  most  ordinary  occurrences 
are  seen  in  the  blackest  light  as  sources  of  trouble  or  danger. 

Suppression  and  repression  in  relation  to  fear.  In  the  form 
of  reaction  to  danger  which  seems  to  be  characteristic  of  the 
normal  healthy  man,  there  is  a  complete  absence  of  fear.  No 
effort  is  needed  to  keep  this  emotion  out  of  the  mind  for  it 
shows  no  tendency  to  appear  in  consciousness.  Fear  in  the  pres- 
ence of  danger  is,  however,  so  necessary  a  part  of  the  mental 
equipment  of  animals,  and  is  so  frequently  manifested  in  child- 
hood, that  we  can  confidently  assume  this  emotion  to  be 
potentially  present,  but  in  a  state  of  suppression.  This  assump- 
tion is  supported  by  several  lines  of  evidence.  A  man  who  when 
exposed  to  danger  experiences  no  trace  of  fear,  and  behaves 
with  the  utmost  coolness  and  bravery,  may  yet  suffer  subse- 
quently from  acute  fear  in  his  dreams.  If,  as  there  is  much 
reason  to  believe,  suppressed  affective  states  find  expression  in 
dreams  owing  to  the  weakening  of  control  normally  exerted  in 
the  waking  state,  the  occurrence  of  fear  in  dreams  following 
a  dangerous  experience  would  be  a  natural  consequence  of  its 
ordinary  existence  in  a  state  of  suppression. 

Still  more  important  and  conclusive  is  the  occurrence  of  fear 
as  the  result  of  shock  or  long-continued  strain  and  fatigue  which 
lower  the  efficiency  of  the  higher  controlling  levels  of  mental 
activity.  Thus,  one  of  the  earliest  signs  of  the  strain  of  war- 
fare is  the  occurrence  of  apprehensions  in  one  who  until  then 
has  passed  through  the  dangers  of  warfare  without  fear.  The 
occurrence  of  fear  either  manifestly,  or  in  the  form  of  vague 
apprehensions,  when  shock  or  strain  has  lowered  efficiency  is 
naturally  explained  if  the  fear  has  been  there  throughout,  but 
in  so  complete  a  state  of  suppression  that  it  never  passed  the 
threshold  of  consciousness.  . 


302  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

The  special  feature  of  practical  importance  in  the  foregoing 
statement  of  the  various  forms  taken  by  the  emotion  of  fear  is 
that  the  occurrence  of  this  emotion  may  be  a  symptom,  often 
the  earliest  sympton,  of  a  state  of  fatigue  and  strain.  Owing  to 
the  way  in  which  the  society  to  which  we  belong,  and  especially 
those  whose  business  it  is  to  fight,  look  upon  fear,  its  occurrence, 
especially  without  adequate  cause,  arouses  other  emotions,  and 
especially  that  of  shame,  which  greatly  enhance  the  strain  to 
which  the  fear  is  primarily  due. 


RELATIONS  BETWEEN  FEAR  AND  OUTPUT  1 

Fear — In  this  connection  (as  a  cause  for  lack  of  interest) 
I  wonder  if  it  is  generally  realized  what  a  determining  part  fear 
has  played  in  shaping  the  mental  life  of  manual  workers.  Fear 
is  an  emotion  which  gives  rise  to  a  strained,  tense  and  abnormal 
state  of  both  body  and  mind.  The  subject  of.  fear,  particularly 
if  the  fear  is  continuous,  is  balked  and  in  a  sense  prohibited 
from  the  use  of  all  his  faculties.  Whatever  alertness  or  respon- 
siveness the  fearful  person  has  is  all  in  the  direction  of  remov- 
ing his  fears,  or  of  protecting  himself  from  having  them 
realized. 

Of  foremost  importance  to  the  worker  is  the  fear  of  unem- 
ployment. The  fear  of  losing  one's  job,  either  because  business 
has  become  slack  or  because,  through  arbitrary  exercise  of  au- 
thority, there  may  be  an  unfair  discharge,  is  constantly  present. 
As  Whiting  Williams  says  in  his  interesting  article  on  What 
the  Workers  Think,  in  Colliers,  February  21,  1920,  "give  us  this 
day  our  daily  job,"  is  the  secret  prayer  of  every  worker,  partic- 
ularly if  he  has  a  family.  There  is  fear  that  wages  will  not 
cover  necessary  expenses;  fear  of  the  undesired  arrival  of  an- 
other child,  or  of  sickness  that  will  bring  an  emergency  demand 
on  income.  There  is  also  the  fear  of  reprimand — the  fear  of 
being  "bawled  out"  by  the  foreman.  "I  doubt,"  said  Henry  S. 
Dennison  in  a  recent  address  at  Richmond,  Va.,  "if  there  is  a 
man  here  who  believes  that  he  can  make  better  progress  in  his 
factory  by  bellowing  at  his  men  and  I  doubt  if  there  is  a  man 
here  in  whose  plant  there  cannot  be  found  some  sample  of  the 
bello wing-bull  type  of  foremanship." 

1  Ordway  Tead.  The  Problem  of  Incentives  and  Output,  p.  170-9. 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  May,  1920. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  303 

There  is  the  fear,  sometimes  conscious  and  sometimes  not, 
that  the  reorganization  of  process  and  method,  which  is  fre- 
quently taking  place  in  factories,  means  such  a  change  in  the 
method  of  doing  the  work  that  the  worker's  acquired  skill  will 
no  longer  have  value.  This  applies  particularly,  of  course,  to 
the  introduction  of  machinery,  the  incidence  of  which,  as  it 
falls  upon  the  individual  worker,  may  be  temporarily  unfair  and 
cruel. 

Then  there  is  a  fear,  which  has  in  the  past  unfortunately  had 
all  too  good  a  basis  in  fact,  that  the  more  work  the  individual 
did  the  less  return  he  would  get  for  it  because  wage  rates  would 
be  cut  or  orders  would  be  more  quickly  completed  and  a  lay-off 
would  ensue. 


A  TECHNIQUE  FOR  CONTINUOUS  PLANT 
OPERATION  * 

The  fluctuation  of  employment  due  to  seasonal  conditions  of 
demand  is  always  a  bugbear  to  any  manufacturing  business  that 
is  endeavoring  to  operate  harmoniously.  Through  it  the  work- 
ing force  is  disorganized;  some  capable  employees  drift  away 
or  lose  their  keenness ;  and  newcomers  at  the  next  period  of  in- 
creased production  have  to  be  familiarized  with  their  duties  and 
with  local  conditions.  It  is  true  that  the  seasonal  decline  af- 
fords an  opportunity  of  ridding  the  organization  of  those  whose 
services  are  least  profitable  to  retain,  and  here  and  there  an 
employer  might  be  found  who  would  consider  the  uncertainty 
of  tenure  as  working  out  to  his  own  advantage;  but  since  the 
significance  of  labor  turnover  has  become  apparent,  and  the 
spirit  of  cooperation  is  found  to  work,  not  only  justly  but  profit- 
ably, there  has  been  a  widespread  desire  to  stabilize  employment, 
and  to  reduce  the  seasonal  variation  to  a  minimum. 

At  the  plant  of  the  Dennison  Manufacturing  Company  a 
marked  reduction  of  seasonal  employment  has  been  affected  by 
the  application  of  certain  clearly  conceived  principles.  These 
principles  were  not  put  at  once  into  sudden  and  complete  oper- 
ation, but  were  given  a  practical  tryout,  and  were  extended  first 
in  one  direction  and  then  in  another,  as  conditions  made  possible. 

1  Plan  in  Use  by  an  American  Industry  for  Combating  Unemploy- 
ment. The  Personnel  Division,  Dennison  Manufacturing  Company,  Fram- 
ingham,  Massachusetts.  American  Labor  Legislation  Review,  Vol.  n. 
March,  1921.  p.  53-5. 


304  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

In  the  nature  of  things,  any  very  considerable  reduction  must 
be  a  matter  of  gradual  development.  It  is,  indeed,  going  on 
here  today,  with  the  goal  far  ahead  of  present  attainment;  but 
results  so  tangible  have  been  secured  that  the  means  through 
which  they  have  been  attained  are  no  longer  untested.  The  five 
principles  applied  include: 

1.  Reduction    of    seasonal    orders   by   getting   customers    to 
order  at  least  a  minimum  amount,  well  in  advance  of  the  season. 

This  has  been  accomplished  partly  by  merely  asking  for 
the  business,  partly  by  persuasive  salesmanship  and  partly 
by  promising  a  greater  security  as  to  delivery.  For  ex- 
ample, originally  paper  box  production  was  extremely 
seasonal.  Orders  would  not  come  in  in  any  large  number 
until  late  in  the  Summer,  and  then  there  would  be  a  pain- 
ful rush  of  work  until  Christmas.  As  a  result  of  modified 
.  sales  policies,  however,  we  now  secure  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  our  holiday  orders  in  January,  and  even  get  a  fairly 
large  proportion  of  orders  for  Christmas  delivery  in  No- 
vember and  December  of  the  preceeding  year.  Similar 
results  have  been  accomplished  in  the  crepe  line. 

2.  The  increase   of  the  proportion   of   non-seasonal   orders 
with  a  long  delivery  time. 

These  orders  are  either  "hold  orders,"  not  to  be  delivered 
until  a  certain  date,  or  orders  to  be  delivered  when  ready. 
This  increase  is  brought  about  by  the  same  methods  of 
selling  that  proved  effective  in  securing  the  transfer  of 
the  seasonal  orders  to  the  next  seasonal  period  as  outlined 
in  ( i )  above. 

3.  The   planning  of  all    stock   items  more  than   a  year   in 
advance. 

The  general  method  is  as  follows:  Over  a  year  in  ad- 
vance a  detailed  statement  of  just  what  stock  items  are 
wanted  is  placed  with  our  Warehousing  Department.  The 
Warehousing  Department  works  out  a  minimum  monthly 
schedule,  based  on  the  distribution  of  the  last  year's  sales. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  305 

Except  that  production  must  be  kept  up  to  this  minimum, 
the  producing  department  can  distribute  the  work  as  seems 
best. 

4.  The   planning   of    inter-departmental    needs   well    in   ad- 
vance.   Thus  the  orders  of  our  Gummed  Label  Department  for 
boxes  are  placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  year. 

By  the  means  suggested  in  the  foregoing  principles,  we 
have  converted  all  possible  seasonal  and  time-limited 
orders  into  articles  on  which  we  have  long  delivery  time, 
and  can  thus  be  produced  according  to  a  schedule  based 
on  production  rather  than  delivery  needs.  It  would,  how- 
ever, probably  be  impossible  to  realize  benefits  as  fully  as 
at  the  present  time,  if  we  were  in  a  trade  characterized  by 
sharp  style  variations ;  but  even  under  such  conditions  it 
is  probable  that  some  benefits  could  be  received. 

5.  The  building  up  of  "out-of-season"  items  and  the  vary- 
ing of  our  lines  so  as  to  balance  one  demand  against  another. 

For  example,  we  are  developing  new  paper  box  items 
of  a  sort  that  are  not  used  for  holiday  purposes,  so  that 
we  can  make  and  sell  them  for  delivery  at  times  when  the 
holiday  work  is  light.  Items,  too,  that  are  securely  staple 
in  nature,  can  safely  be  made  at  any  time  for  stock.  It 
is  our  policy  to  increase  up  to  the  point  of  a  healthful  ad- 
justment the  number  of  such  items. 

Measures  of  this  type  are  attempts  to  build  the  normal 
business  of  a  concern  up  toward  the  peak  level  of  the 
busy  season.  They  aim  not  at  removing  the  peaks,  but  at 
filling  up  the  hollows.  They  constitute  a  healthy,  levelling- 
up  process,  which  achieves  a  positive  increase  of  the 
total  output,  at  the  same  time  that  it  decreases  the  fluctu- 
ations. 

Besides  these  methods  of  decreasing  the  pressure  of  seasonal 
demands,  and  evening  out  the  inequalities,  we  can  meet  seasonal 
employment  by  conforming  ourselves  somewhat  to  it.  We  can 
balance  the  decrease  in  work  of  one  department  against  the  sur- 
plus of  another.  We  can  transfer  operatives  not  needed  in  one 


306  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

line  to  another  where  there  is  work  on  hand.  In  doing  so,  we 
make  it  a  rule  to  transfer  operatives  to  the  same  off-season  work 
each  time,  so  that  they  will  develop  proficiency  in  these  off-sea- 
son trades.  We  can  go  a  step  further:  we  can  plan  to  adjust 
the  work  of  one  department  so  as  to  use  to  advantage  the  un- 
employed operatives  of  another  department. 

An  illustration  of  this  is  found  in  the  sample  work  of  our 
crepe  paper  department.  This  requires  little  special  training, 
and  can  be  handled  well  by  the  paper  box  makers  in  their  dull 
season.  As  a  matter  of  deliberate  policy,  this  work  is  always 
saved  up  for  December  and  January,  when  the  slack  season  of 
the  box  makers  is  at  hand. 

This  method  often  works  incidently  to  our  advantage  in  other 
ways  besides  those  which  have  led  to  its  adoption.  It  tends,  for 
example,  toward  producing  a  more  versatile  operating  force, 
from  whose  numbers  emergency  transfers  may  at  other  times 
more  easily  be  made,  As  a  still  further  measure,  we  have  ar- 
ranged to  transfer  operatives  to  outside  industries.  This  course 
of  action  we  resort  to  only  in  extreme  cases.  It  has  the  disad- 
vantage of  relaxing  the  bond  of  connection  between  the  employee 
and  our  company;  but  it  has  been  found  to  preserve  a  certain 
relation  of  considerable  advantage  over  complete  discharge,  or 
incurring  the  risk  that  employees  whom  we  might  wish  later  to 
take  on  again  might  be  led  to  obtain  other  continuous  employ- 
ment during  the  period  while  we  were  unable  to  furnish  them 
work. 


SECURITY  OF  THE  JOB  BY  NEW  BANKING 
STANDARDS l 

The  credit  problem  is  our  biggest  problem,  because  it  lies  at 
the  bottom  of  the  question  of  unemployment  and  that  question 
is  the  point  of  bitterest  contact  between  capital  and  labor  today. 
One  might  even  say  that  socialism  and  trade  unionism  are  both 
founded  on  the  fear  of  unemployment. 

It  is  with  this  conviction  that  leaders  of  opinion  in  Wiscon- 
sin, the  state  which  so  often  has  been  the  pioneer  in  industrial 
legislation,  have  devoted  much  thought  to  the  problem  of  un- 

1  John  R.  Commons.  Unemployment.  Compensation  and  Prevention. 
Survey.  Vol.  47.  p.  5-9.  October  i,  1921. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  307 

employment  prevention.  The  result  of  this,  in  tangible  form, 
has  been  the  so-called  Huber  Unemployment  Prevention  bill, 
which  was  before  the  legislature  last  winter  and  the  enactment 
of  which  will  come  up  again  during  the  coming  session.  .  . 

The  sales  department  must  be  subject  to  the  production  de- 
partment, so  that  rush  orders  are  not  taken  on  that  cannot  be 
delivered  except  by  an  over-expansion  of  the  business  with  a 
certainty  that  men  must  be  laid  off  after  the  rush  orders  have 
been  finished.  The  cycle  of  unemployment  is  the  cycle  of  rush 
orders.  When  credit  is  good  and  prosperity  is  around,  people 
will  not  wait,  The  business  man  thinks  then  that  he  must  ex- 
pand his  factory;  he  must  take  on  more  laborers,  he  must  get 
out  his  orders  quickly  or  some-one  else  is  going  to  get  those 
orders.  A  great  firm  in  Wisconsin  pulled  in  laborers  from  the 
farms  and  Negroes  from  the  South,  then  suddenly  laid  them  off, 
to  be  supported  and  policed  by  a  little  city. 

But  more  important  than  the  employer  is  the  banker  as  the 
stabilizer  of.  employment.  During  the  recent  over-expansion  a 
certain  manufacturer  applied  for  a  loan  of  $250,000  in  order  to 
enlarge  the  plant.  The  banker  turned  the  application  over  to 
the  bank's  industrial  engineer,  recently  added  to  the  staff,  and 
he  showed  the  manufacturer  how,  by  better  economy  and  better 
labor  management,  he  could  get  along  without  that  loan  of 
$250,000.  The  banker  put  the  screws  on  the  manufacturer.  Six 
or  eight  months  afterward,  when  the  collapse  came,  the  manu- 
facturer was  profuse  with  thanks  to  the  banker.  The  service  of 
refusing  him  credit  in  order  to  prevent  expansion  was  much 
greater  than  would  have  been  the  service  of  furnishing  him 
credit. 

The  banking  system,  which  is  the  center  of  the  credit  system, 
more  than  the  business  man  who  is  the  actual  employer,  can 
stabilize  industry,  and,  in  stabilizing  industry,  stabilizes  employ- 
ment. The  difficulty  is  that  no  one  individual  can  do  it  alone; 
no  bank  can  do  it  by  itself;  no  one  business  man  can  do  it  by 
himself;  it  is  a  collective  responsibility  and  collective  action  is 
necessary.  If  one  person  is  trying  to  stabilize  his  industry  by 
not  over-expanding  and  not  taking  too  many  rush  orders,  he 
simply  knows  that  his  competitors  will  get  his  business.  But 
if  all  the  business  men,  who  are  competing  with  each  other, 
know  that  the  banks  are  treating  the  others  in  the  same  way, 
then  stabilization  might  be  expected  to  work.  So  that  the  in- 


308  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY.  FOR 

ducement  to  stabilize  employment  in  order  that  it  may  be  really 
effective  must  not  only  take  the  example  of  those  manufac- 
turers who  have  pioneered  the  way  themselves,  but  must  interest 
the  entire  banking  system  of  the  state  or  nation  in  the  plan. 

Now  the  Huber  bill  proposes  that  when  an  employer  lays  off 
a  man,  if  the  man  has  had  six  months'  work  in  the  state  during 
the  year,  the  employer  shall  pay  him  a  dollar  a  day  for  a  period 
of  thirteen  weeks,  and  pay  the  state  ten  cents  a  day  additional 
toward  expenses  of  administration.  This  creates  a  possible  lia- 
bility of  about  $90,  added  to  every  man  taken  on  in  case  he  is 
laid  off  through  no  fault  of  his  own,  but  simply  through  fault 
of  the  management.  It  means  an  added  liability  which  the  em- 
ployer assumes  when  he  hires  a  workman,  so  that,  under  such 
circumstances,  it  should  be  expected  that  when  an  employer 
wants  to  expand,  and  he  cannot  ordinarily  expand  except  by  get- 
ting credit,  he  will  go  to  the  bank  for  additional  credit  and  the 
banker  will  necessarily  inquire  as  to  what  security  he  has  that, 
at  the  end  of  these  rush  orders,  he  will  be  able  to  continue  the 
employment  or  pay  the  possible  $90.  In  other  words,  the  busi- 
ness man  and  the  banker  together  are  the  controllers  of  credit, 
and  it  is  the  control  of  credit  which  can  stabilize  business.  The 
over-expansion  of  credit  is  the  cause  of  unemployment,  and  to 
prevent  the  over-expansion  of  credit  you  place  an  insurance 
liability  on  the  business  man  against  the  day  when  he  lays  off 
the  workmen.  .  .  In  any  proposition  of  this  kind  there  are  two 
questions.  Is  it  practicable?  Is  it  desirable?  The  foregoing 
has  indicated  its  practicability.  It  is  based  on  the  knowledge 
gained  from  the  experience  of  various  European  countries  and 
upon  the  experience  of  the  Industrial  Commission  with  the  acci- 
dent compensation  law. 

If  we  recognize  that  this  question  of  capital  and  labor 
acquires  its  bitterness  from  this  failure  of  capitalism  to  protect 
the  security  of  labor,  then  we  shall  conclude  that  unemployment 
compensation  and  prevention  is  of  first  importance.  We  have 
already  removed  from  the  struggle  between  capital  and  labor 
the  bitterness  over  the  responsibility  for  accidents.  Labour  agi- 
tators formerly  could  stir  up  hatred  of  the  employer  on  the 
ground  that  the  employer  gets  his  profits  out  of  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  his  workmen.  No  longer  do  we  hear  that  language; 
but  we  do  hear  them  say  that  capital  gets  its  profits  out  of  the 
poverty  and  mfsery  of  labor  and  the  reserve  army  of  the  unem- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  309 

ployed.  That  is  the  big  remaining  obstacle  which  embitters  the 
relation  between  capital  and  labor.  While  individuals  may  think 
it  is  undesirable,  yet  from  the  standpoint  of  the  states  and  of 
the  nation,  we  must  submit  somewhat  our  individual  prefer- 
ences to  what  may  help  to  prevent  a  serious  menace  in  the  fu- 
ture, and  must  impose  upon  capital  that  same  duty  of  establish- 
ing security  of  the  job  which  it  has  long  since  assumed  in  estab- 
lishing security  of  investment. 


XVII.   FATIGUE  CONTROL 
AND  INDUSTRIAL  EFFICIENCY 

Emphasis  in  fatigue  control  is  upon  "methods,  such  as  mo- 
tion study,  by  which  the  amount  of  work  required  for  a  given 
quantity  of  output  can  be  decreased."  This  criterion,  laid  down 
by  Bernard  Muscio  in  a  report  to  the  Industrial  Fatigue  Re- 
search Board  of  Great  Britain,  indicates  the  general  trend  of 
careful  opinion.  Fatigue  tests  which  aim  to  find  the  amount  of 
fatigue  present  at  any  time  have  proved  almost  wholly  futile. 
Successful  fatigue  control  arises  from  testing  the  relative  effects 
of  various  methods  of  performing  industrial  operations  on  max- 
imum output  and  on  steady  physical  and  mental  health  for  the 
individual.  That  combination  of  technical  methods  and  environ- 
mental conditions  which  produces  the  greatest  output  without 
damage  to  the  human  constitution  gives  the  clue  to  the  most 
effective  means  of  fatigue  control  in  each  individual  case. 

The  reduction  of  useless  motions  in  job  processes,  the  tim- 
ing of  rest  periods,  the  adjustments  of  benches  and  seats,  the 
control  of  lighting  and  colors,  the  elimination  of  distracting 
noises  and  sights,  etc. — and  the  effect  of  such  factors  upon  quan- 
tity and  quality  of  output  as  well  as  upon  the  health  of  workers, 
— these  are  the  real  elements  in  fatigue  tests  and  control. 


THE  ECONOMIC  LOSS  FROM  UNNECESSARY 
FATIGUE 1 

Unnecessary  fatigue  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  wastes.  We 
believe  that  a  conservative  estimate  of  the  loss  to  our  nation  in 
productivity  alone  is  more  than  twenty  cents  per  worker  for 
each  and  every  working  day.  We  have  arrived  at  this  estimate 
after  many  years  of  intensive  study  of  this  subject,  in  connec- 
tion with  our  work  as  consulting  production  engineers  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe. 

1  Frank   B.    and   Lillian   M.   Gilbrcth.      Unnecessary    Fatigue — A   Multi- 
Billion  Enemy  to  America.     Journal  of  Industrial  Hygiene.   Vol.  I.  May, 
1920.   p.    542-5- 


312  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

There  are  more  than  three  hundred  working  days  in  each 
year,  and  the  United  States  census  shows  more  than  thirty-five 
million  workers  in  this  country,  the  output  of  a  large  majority 
of  whom  is  undoubtedly  affected  by  unnecessary  fatigue.  An 
instant's  figuring  shows  that  unnecessary  fatigue,  therefore, 
causes  a  loss  in  production  that  is  colossal.  This  loss  is  much 
larger  than  the  total  fire  loss,  and  the  preventable  fire  loss  alone 
is  shocking.  This  tremendous  loss  from  fatigue  is  not  for  one 
year  only.  It  is  year  after  year;  it  is 'continuous. 

An  astounding  loss  in  production  is  by  no  means  the  total 
loss  which  is  chargeable  to  unnecessary  fatigue.  There  is  also 
the  loss  in  materials  that  are  spoiled  and  in  overhead  charges 
caused  by  the  unnecessarily  fatigued  worker.  Again,  there  is 
loss  due  to  absences  caused  by  accident  and  sickness  which  are 
often  the  indirect  results  of  unnecessary  fatigue.  Statistics 
show  that  the  over-tired  workers  are  the  ones  oftenest  injured 
and  oftenest  absent.  There  is  also  the  loss  due  to  the  lack  of 
cooperation  that  comes  as  a  result  of  the  discontent  due  to 
over-fatigue,  and  the  resentment  due  to  a  belief  that  the  man- 
agement has  not  done  all  it  could  to  provide  for  the  worker's 
relief  from  unnecessary  fatigue.  These  losses  are  real  and  tre- 
mendous, though  to  some  they  may  seem  intangible. 

To  those  who  have  not  considered  the  astounding  costs  to 
our  nation  by  reason  of  unnecessary  fatigue,  or  who  do  not 
believe  that  their  own  particular  organization  is  paying  heavily 
for  not  eliminating  such  fatigue,  we  recommend  the  making  of 
a  regular  fatigue  survey  of  their  own  conditions.  We  have 
found  that  such  a  survey  will  pay  in  an  organization,  large  or 
small.  It  will  pay  when  there  are  ten  thousand  employees  and 
it  will  also  pay  in  the  smallest  organizations,  even  in  one's 
household.  We  have  found  it  to  pay  large  dividends  in  the  one, 
and  to  aid  in  solving  the  help  problem  in  the  other. 


HEALTH,  EFFICIENCY  AND  FATIGUE  * 

The  true  sign  of  fatigue  is  diminished  capacity,  of  which  mea- 
surement of  output  in  work  will  give  the  most  direct  test.  The 
output  must  be  measured  under  the  ordinary  conditions  of  the 

1  Final  Report  of  the  British  Health  of  Munition  Workers  Com- 
mittee. United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Bulletin  249.  p.  39-4 », 
43-S,  2SI-2. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  313 

work,  and,  in  cases  where  from  the  nature  of  the  work  the  out- 
put cannot  be  automatically  measured,  it  must  be  tested  by 
methods  which  do  not  allow  the  workers  to  be  conscious  at  par- 
ticular times  of  the  test  being  made.  In  this  way  the  errors  due 
to  special  efforts  from  interest  or  emulation  will  be  eliminated. 
The  result  of  work  expressed  in  output  must  be  corrected  by 
allowance  for  all  variable  factors  save  that  of  the  worker's 
changing  capacity;  changes  in  supply  of  steam  or  electric  power 
and  of  raw  material,  for  instance,  must  be  determined  for  cor- 
rection and  interpretation  of  the  actual  output  returns.  The 
output  must  be  estimated  for  successive  short  periods  of  the 
day's  work,  so  that  the  phenomena  of  "beginning  spurt"  and 
"end  spurt"  and  other  variations  complicating  the  course  of 
fatigue  as  such,  may  be  traced  and  taken  into  account.  Isolated 
tests  of  output  taken  sporadically  will  be  misleading.  The  rec- 
ords must  also  extend  over  longer  periods  to  show  the  onset  of 
fatigue  over  the  whole  day  and  over  the  whole  week,  and  under 
particular  seasonal  or  other  conditions,  in  order  to  detect  and 
measure  the  result  of  accumulating  fatigue. 

Measurements  of  output  must  obviously  be  recorded  at  so 
much  for  each  individual  or  for  each  unit  group.  The  size  of 
total  output  will  be  meaningless  of  course  without  reference  to 
the  numbers  engaged.  But  it  will  also  be  important  for  proper 
management  to  take  account  of  the  output  of  particular  indi- 
viduals. This  in  many  factory  processes  is  easily  possible,  and 
when  it  has  been  done  the  results  have  shown  surprising  varia- 
tions of  individual  output  which  are  independent  of  personal 
willingness  and  industry,  and  have  generally  been  quite  unsus- 
pected by  the  workers  and  their  supervisors  before  the  test  was 
made.  Information  so  gained  is  valuable  in  two  respects.  Good 
individual  output  is  often  the  result  of  escape  from  fatigue  by 
conscious  or  unconscious  adoption  of  particular  habits  of 
manipulation  or  of  rhythm.  Its  discovery  allows  the  propaga- 
tion of  good  method  among  the  other  workers.  In  the  second 
place  these  tests  of  individual  capacity  (or  its  loss  by  fatigue) 
give  an  opportunity  for  rearrangement  of  workers  and  their  as- 
signment to  particular  and  appropriate  processes  of  work. 
Astonishing  results,  bringing  advantage  both  to  employer  and 
employed,  have  been  gained  in  this  and  other  countries  by  the 
careful  selection  of  individuals  for  particular  tasks,  based  not 


314  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

upon  the  impressions  of  foremen  but  upon  the  results  of  experi- 
ment. 

In  passing  it  may  be  said  that  if  the  proper  adaptation  to 
particular  kinds  of  labor  of  the  relations  of  spells  or  shifts  of 
work  to  rest  intervals  and  to  holidays  is  to  be  determined,  as 
it  can  alone  be,  by  appeal  to  experiment,  it  will  of  course  be  an 
essential  condition  for  success  that  the  workers  should  cooper- 
ate with  the  employing  management  and  give  their  highest  vol- 
untary efforts  toward  the  maximum  output  during  the  spells  of 
work.  It  is  not  surprising  that  where  employers,  following  tra- 
dition rather  than  experiment,  have  disobeyed  physiological  law 
in  the  supposed  interest  of  gain — and  for  a  century  this  has  been 
almost  universal — the  workers  have  themselves  fallen  very  com- 
monly into  a  tradition  of  working  below  their  best  during  their 
spells  of  labor.  In  so  far  as  hours  of  work  in  excess  of  those 
suitable  for  maximal  efficiency  have  been  imposed,  during  the 
last  two  or  three  generations  of  modern  industry,  upon  the 
workers  a  tradition  of  slowed  labor  must  necessarily  have 
arisen,  probably  in  large  part  automatically,  as  a  kind  of  physio- 
logical self-protection.  Without  some  conscious  or  unconscious 
slackening  of  effort  indeed  during  working  hours  of  improper 
length  in  the  past,  the  output  might  have  been  even  more  un- 
favorable than  it  is  known  to  have  been  for  the  hours  of  work 
consumed. 

Accidents  and  Spoiled  Work 

An  important  and  early  sign  of  fatigue  in  the  nervous  centers 
is  a  want  of  coordination  and  failure  in  the  power  of  concen- 
tration. This  may  not  be  subjectively  realized,  but  may  be 
shown  objectively  in  an  increased  frequency  of  trifling  acci- 
dents, due  to  momentary  loss  of  attention.  Such  accidents  may 
result  in  personal  damage  to  the  worker,  trifling  or  serious, 
breakage  of  tools  or  materials,  or  the  spoiling  of  work.  In  well- 
managed  factories  the  incidence  of  accidents  of  this  kind  is 
recorded  for  unit  periods  throughout  the  day,  and  these  records 
may  provide  a  good  secondary  index  to  fatigue,  but  only  in  so 
far  as  they  are  corrected  by  reference  to  the  rate  of  work  being 
done  and  other  variables.  .  . 

Taking  the  country  as  a  whole,  the  committee  are  bound  to 
record  their  conviction  that  conditions  of  reduced  efficiency  and 
lowered  health  have  often  been  allowed  to  arise  which  might 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  315 

have  been  avoided  without  reduction  of  output  by  attention  to 
the  details  of  daily  and  weekly  rests  and  other  similar  means 
of  welfare  and  favoring  conditions.  The  signs  of  fatigue  are 
even  more  noticeable  in  the  case  of  managers  and  foremen,  and 
their  practical  results  are  probably  more  serious  than  in  the  case 
of  the  workmen. 

Finally,  it  must  be  remembered  that  when  fatigue  passes 
beyond  psychological  limits  ("overstrain")  it  becomes  ill  health, 
which  leads  not  only  to  reduced  output  but  to  more  or  less  ser- 
ious damage  of  body  or  mind.  There  is  also,  of  course,  much 
industrial  sickness  and  disease  which  bears  no  exact  relation  to 
fatigue,  though  it  may  follow  or  precede  it.  Subsequently  sec- 
tions of  the  present  report  are  concerned  with  general  and  spe- 
cial diseases  associated  with  factory  life  and  an  account  of 
means  for  their  amelioration.  Here  it  is  only  necessary  to  draw 
attention  to  the  primary  and  fundamental  importance  of  main- 
taining a  high  standard  of  health  in  the  industrial  worker.  For 
without  health  there  is  no  energy,  and  without  energy  there  is 
no  output.  The  actual  conduct  of  business  is  thus  primarily  de- 
pendent upon  physical  health.  Moreover,  health  bears  a  direct 
relation  to  contentment,  alertness,  and  the  absence  of  lassitude 
and  boredom,  conditions  bearing  directly  upon  industrial  effi- 
ciency. In  this  matter  the  interests  of  the  employer  and  the 
workmen  are  identical.  Nor  are  their  respective  responsibilities 
separable.  The  employer  must  provide  a  sanitary  factory  and 
suitable  conditions  of  labor.  The  workplace  must  be  clean  and 
wholesome,  properly  heated  and  ventilated;  there  must  be  suit- 
able and  sufficient  sanitary  accommodations;  dangerous  machin- 
ery and  injurious  processes  must  be  safeguarded;  circumstances 
necessitate  in  many  factories  the  establishment  of  industrial 
canteens,  the  provision  of  seats,  suitable  overalls,  lavatories  and 
baths,  rest  rooms,  and  first  aid  appliances.  Owing  to  the  factory 
employment  of  many  workers  for  the  first  time,  and  of  increased 
numbers  of  women,  often  at  a  distance  from  home,  arrange- 
ments must  be  made  for  individual  supervision  and  the -main- 
tenance of  their  health.  The  employment  of  boys  also  calls  for 
special  vigilance  and  attention. 

Further,  it  has  been  recognized  for  many  years  that  the  wise 
employer  considers  the  personal  well-being  of  his  workpeople. 
He  cannot  be  only  satisfied  with  the  external  betterment.  He 


316  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

will  have  regard  to  the  individual  worker.  Their  nutrition,  their 
rest  and  recreation,  their  habits  of  life,  are  all  of  interest  and 
importance  in  relation  to  their  health  and  efficiency. 

The  problems  of  industrial  fatigue  and  ill  health,  already 
soluble  in  part  by  reference  to  an  available  body  of  knowledge 
well  known  and  used  in  other  countries,  have  become  acute  dur- 
ing the  great  recent  development  of  the  munitions  industries  of 
Great  Britain.  It  is  not  too  much  perhaps  to  hope  that  the  study 
of  industrial  fatigue  and  the  science  of  management  based  upon 
it,  which  is  now  being  forced  into  notice  by  immediate  need, 
may  leave  lasting  results  to  benefit  the  industries  of  the  country 
during  succeeding  years  of  peace. 

The  national  experience  in  modern  industry  is  longer  than 
that  of  any  other  people.  It  has  shown  clearly  enough  that 
false  ideas  of  economic  gain,  blind  to  physiological  law,  must 
lead,  as  they  led  through  the  nineteenth  century,  to  vast  national 
loss  and  suffering.  It  is  certain  that  unless  industrial  life  is  to 
be  guided  in  the  future,  (i)  by  the  application  of  physiological 
science  to  the  details  of  its  management,  and  (2)  by  a  proper 
and  practical  regard  for  the  health  and  well-being  of  our  work- 
people in  the  form  both  of  humanizing  industry  and  improving 
the  environment,  the  nation  can  hope  to  maintain  its  position 
hereafter  among  some  of  its  foreign  rivals,  who  already  in  that 
respect  have  gained  a  present  advantage.  .  . 

The  subject  of  industrial  efficiency  in  relation  to  health  and 
fatigue  is  in  large  degree  one  of  preventive  medicine,  a  question 
of  physiology  and  psychology,  of  sociology  and  industrial 
hygiene. 

Fatigue  is  the  sum  of  the  results  of  activity  which  show 
themselves  in  a  diminished  capacity  for  doing  work.  Fatigue 
may  spring  from  the  maintained  use  of  intelligence,  the  main- 
tenance of  steady  attention,  or  the  continued  use  of  special 
senses.  When  the  work  is  monotonous  fatigue  may  appear  in 
the  psychical  field;  monotony  may  diminish  capacity  for  work; 
on  the  other  hand  "interest"  may  increase  it. 

Fatigue  should  be  detected  and  its  causes  dealt  with  while 
it  is  still  latent  and  before  it  becomes  excessive.  The  tests  of 
fatigue  are  diminished  output,  the  failure  of  concentration  as 
shown  in  increased  accidents  and  spoiled  work,  staleness,  ill 
health,  and  lost  time. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  317 

Without  health  there  is  no  energy;  without  energy  there  is 
no  output.  More  important  than  output  is  the  vigor,  strength, 
and  vitality  of  the  nation.  The  conditions  or  those  favorable  to 
the  body  itself  (e.g.,  food,  fresh  air,  exercise,  warmth,  and 
adequate  rest),  and,  secondly,  a  satisfactory  environment  (e.g., 
a  safe  and  sanitary  factory,  suitable  hours  of  work,  good  housing 
accommodation,  and  convenient  means  of  transit). 


SIGNS  AND  SYMPTOMS  OF  FATIGUE1 

It  must  be  repeated  that  the  subjective  sensations  of  fatigue 
are  not  a  measure,  or  even  an  early  sign,  of  it.  Real  or  objective 
fatigue  is  shown  and  is  measurable  by  the  diminished  capacity 
for  performing  the  act  that  caused  it. 

Bodily  fatigue'.  Fatigue  following  muscular  employment  is 
primarily  nervous  fatigue,  as  explained  already,  and  we  have 
seen  that  no  advanced  degree  of  muscular  fatigue  as  such  can 
be  obtained  by  voluntary  action,  for  fatigue  in  the  nervous 
system  outstrips  in  its  onset  fatigue  in  the  muscles.  In  accus- 
tomed actions,  however,  as  in  walking  or  digging,  where  there 
had  been  habituation,  the  activity  may  be  so  prolonged  without 
great  nervous  fatigue  as  to  give  approaching  "exhaustion" — 
that  is,  notable  loss  of  chemical  substance — in  the  muscles. 
Industrial  work  is  habitual  work,  but  the  case  in  which  muscular 
labor  is  so  intense  and  prolonged  as  to  give  exhaustion  in  this 
sense  need  not  be  considered  here,  nor  the  causation  of  the 
special  symptoms  which  arise.  It  must  be  noted,  however,  that 
practically  the  whole  of  the  mechanical  energy  and  heat  yielded 
by  the  body  during  work  comes  from  the  chemical  energy 
stored  in  the  muscles.  In  proportion  as  this  store  is  called 
upon,  and  quite  apart  from  the  question  of  fatigue,  it  must  be 
made  good  by  supplies  from  the  blood  and  ultimately  from  the 
food.  Practically  the  whole  of  the  energy  transformed  in  the 
muscles  is  derived  from  carbohydrate  material,  and  the  impor- 
tance of  this  in  relation  to  the  diet  of  workers  is  discussed  in 
Memorandum  No.  3. 

1  Signs  and  Symptoms  of  Fatigue.  Memoranda  of  the  British  Health 
of  Munition  Workers  Committee,  1917.  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor. 
Statistics.  Bulletin  221.  p.  50-2. 


318  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

For  work  in  which  severe  muscular  effort  is  required  it  seems 
probable  that  the  maximum  output  over  the  day's  work  and 
the  best  conditions  for  the  workers'  comfort  and  maintained 
health  will  be  secured  by  giving  short  spells  of  strenuous  activity 
broken  by  longer  spells  of  rest,  the  time  ratio  of  rest  to  action 
being  here,  for  maximal  efficiency,  greater  than  that  for  the 
employments  in  which  nervous  activity  is  more  prominent  or 
more  complicated  than  in  the  processes  involved  during  familiar 
muscular  work.  This  difference  may  be  connected  directly 
with  the  greater  bulk  of  chemical  material  which  must  be 
mobilized  when,  as  in  severe  muscular  exercise,  so  large  a 
proportion  of  the  whole  body  mass  is  engaged  in  the  chemical 
events  involved  in  movement  and  doing  work;  but  further 
scientific  study  is  needed  here. 

Nervous  and  Mental  Fatigue 

It  is  under  this  head,  as  we  have  seen,  that  the  special  prob- 
lems of  industrial  fatigue  arise.  The  signs  and  symptoms  of 
the  fatigue  will  depend  upon  the  nature  of  the  particular  work 
done,  whether  it  be  general  bodily  work  of  this  or  that  kind, 
carried  out  in  fixed  routine,  or  whether  it  involve  mental 
activity  of  a  simple  or  of  a  more  complicated  kind.  The  fatigue 
may  spring  from  the  maintained  use  of  intelligence  and  obser- 
vation with  varying  degrees  of  the  muscular  effort  necessary 
in  every  kind  of  work,  or  from  the  maintenance  of  steady 
attention  upon  one  skilled  task,  or  of  distributed  attention,  as 
when  several  machines  are  to  be  tended  or  other  manipulations 
performed ;  or,  again,  it  may  depend  upon  the  continued  use 
of  special  senses  and  sense  organs  in  discrimination,  whether 
by  touch  or  sight.  It  will  be  affected  greatly  according  to 
whether  the  worker  has  opportunity  for  obeying  his  natural 
rhythms,  or  whether  unnatural  rhythm  is  imposed  upon  him  by 
the  pace  of  the  machine  with  which  he  works  or  by  that  of  his 
fellow  workmen.  Considerations  so  inexplicable  at  present  in 
terms  of  physiology  as  to  be  called  "psychology"  will  also  arise; 
if  the  work  is  of  a  "worrying"  or  "fussy"  kind,  with  a  multiplicity, 
that  is  to  say,  of  imposed  and  irregular  rhythms,  fatigue  will 
be  more  rapid,  perhaps  on  account  of  the  more  numerous  and 
"higher"  nervous  centers  which  become  implicated. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  3*9 

Monotonous  Work 

And  much  industrial  work  is  monotonous — offers  some  special 
problems.  It  has  been  seen  that  uniformly  repeated  acts  tend 
to  become  in  a  sense  "automatic,"  and  that  the  nerve  centers 
concerned  become  less  liable  to  fatigue — the  time  ratio  of  neces- 
ary  rest  to  action  is  diminished.  But  when  monotonous  series 
are  repeated,  fatigue  may  appear  in  what  may  be  called  the 
psychical  field,  and  a  sense  of  "monotony"  may  diminish  the 
capacity  for  work.  This  is  analogous  to,  if  it  does  not  represent, 
a  fatigue  process  in  unrecognized  nervous  centers.  Conversely, 
"interest"  may  improve  the  working  capacity  even  for  a  uniform 
monotonous  activity,  and  the  interest  may  spring  from  emotional 
states,  or,  as  some  think,  from  states  of  anticipatory  pleasure  be- 
fore mealtime  and  rest  ("end  spurt"),  or  again,  from  a  sense 
of  patriotism  eager  to  forward  the  munitions  output. 

It  may  be  remarked  that  mental  processes,  like  those  involved, 
for  instance,  in  adding  up  figures,  may  be  maintained  for  very 
long  periods — subject  to  the  needs  of  change  of  posture  and 
of  diurnal  sleep — with  no  great  loss  of  capacity,  that  is,  without 
marked  fatigue  in  that  particular  process.  Such  diminution  of 
capacity  as  occurs,  and  the  sense  of  fatigue  that  is  felt  sub- 
jectively by  common  experience  in  such  a  task,  appear  to  be 
due  to  "monotony,"  and  to  be  removable  by  means  of  "interest." 

For  practical  purposes  in  industrial  management  two  chief 
characters  of  nervous  fatigue  must  be  observed.  First,  during 
the  continued  performance  of  work  the  objective  results  of 
nervous  fatigue  precede  in  their  onset  the  subjective  symptoms 
of  fatigue.  Without  obvious  sign  and  without  his  knowing  it 
himself,  a  man's  capacity  for  work  may  diminish  owing  to  his 
unrecognized  fatigue.  His  time  beyond  a  certain  point  then 
begins  to  be  uneconomically  spent,  and  it  is  for  scientific  man- 
agement to  determine  this  point,  and  to  determine  further  the 
arrangement  of  periods  of  rest  in  relation  to  spells  of  work  that 
will  give  the  best  development  over  the  day  and  the  year  of  the 
worker's  capacity.  Second,  the  results  of  fatigue  which  advances 
beyond  physiological  limits  ("overstrain")  not  only  reduce 
capacity  at  the  moment,  but  do  damage  of  a  more  permanent 
kind  which  will  affect  capacity  for  periods  far  beyond  the  next 


320  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

normal  period  of  rest.     It  will  plainly  be  uneconomical  to  allow 
this  damage  to  be  done. 

For  these  reasons,  chief  among  others,  it  will  be  important 
to  detect  latent  fatigue,  and  since  sensations  of  fatigue  are 
unpunctual  and  untrustworthy,  means  must  be  sought  of  observing 
the  onset  of  fatigue  objectively. 

It  has  happened,  moreover,  that,  rightly  or  wrongly,  a  sus- 
picion has  grown  up  among  workers  that  any  device  for  increas- 
ing output  will  be  used  for  the  profit  of  the  employer  rather 
than  for  the  increased  health  and  comfort  of  the  workers.  It 
would  be  out  of  place  here  to  touch  on  the  economic  and  social 
problems  which  arise  in  this  connection,  but  until  such  solutions 
are  found  for  them  as  will  bring  a  hearty  cooperation  between 
employers  and  employed,  in  the  task  of  finding  the  optimum 
condition  of  work  for  the  benefit  of  both,  there  will  be  no  certain 
prospect  of  determining  the  true  physiological  methods  for  get- 
ting the  best  results  in  modern  industrial  occupations. 

The  committee  believes  that  in  the  present  time  of  crisis 
patriotic  incentive  has  done  much  to  abolish  customary  reduction 
of  effort  among  munition  workers,  but  it  is  of  great  importance 
to  note  that  a  special  and  strenuous  voluntary  effort  in  labor, 
if  it  be  maintained  under  a  badly  arranged  time-table  of  work 
and  rest,  does  not  necessarily  bring  increased  output  over  a 
long  period,  however  praiseworthy  the  intention  of  effort  may 
be.  Under  wrong  conditions  of  work,  with  excessive  overtime, 
it  is  to  be  expected  indeed  that  some  deliberate  "slacking"  of 
the  workers  might  actually  give  an  improvement  of  output  over 
a  period  of  some  length  by  sparing  wasteful  fatigue,  just  as 
the  "nursing"  of  a  boat  crew  over  part  of  a  long  course  may 
improve  their  performance.  It  cannot  in  such  circumstances 
be  said  that  a  workman  so  restraining  himself,  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  is  doing  more  to  damage  the  output  on  the 
whole  than  the  employer  who  has  arranged  overlong  hours  of 
work  on  the  baseless  assumption  that  long  hours  mean  high 
output. 

THE  PREVENTION  OF  FATIGUE * 

Everyone  knows  that  continuous  muscular  effort  necessarily 
involves  more  or  less  weariness  or  fatigue.  Such  fatigue  is 

1  Reynold  A.  Spaeth.  Prevention  of  Fatigue  in  Industry.  Industrial 
Management.  January,  February,  May,  1920.  p.  7-9,  120-1,  411. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  .       321 

in  no  sense  harmful  to  normal  people,  provided  they  rest  from 
time  to  time.  Just  how  long  one  may  work  or  how  often  and 
long  one  should  rest  varies  with  the  individual.  Normal  fatigue 
of  this  sort  is  no  more  injurious  to  the  human  machine  than 
running  is  to  a  steam  engine.  Indeed  it  is  less  injurious.  For 
the  human  machine — unlike  the  steam  engine — carries  an  auto- 
matic repair  kit  that  begins  to  operate  the  moment  the  machine 
comes  to  rest.  The  process  of  automatic  repairing  is  so  deli- 
cately adjusted  that,  as  we  all  know,  a  rational  amount  of 
exercise  and  work  actually  increases  the  machine's  strength.  It 
is  as  if  we  started  with  a  diminutive  half  horsepower  engine 
which  gradually  and  automatically  increased  to  five  or  ten  horse 
power.  So  far  there  is  no  problem ;  nature  seems  to  have 
designed  the  human  machine  on  foolproof  lines.  Yes  and  no! 
Unfortunately  an  automatic  stop  was  somehow  omitted  in 
the  original  specifications.  Local  safety  devices,  however,  do 
exist.  It  has  been  clearly  demonstrated,  for  example,  that  the 
conduction  of  a  nervous  impulse  to  a  muscle  ceases  long  before 
the  muscle  is  actually  and  totally  played  out.  If  we  consider 
the  human  will  as  a  power  generator,  the  nerves  as  the  line 
wires  and  the  muscles  as  a  motor  mechanism  (which  they 
obviously  are),  this  safety  device  corresponds  to  an  unseen  hand 
opening  a  switch  to  prevent  an  overload. 

The  stubborn  fact  remains,  however,  that  we  cannot  be 
absolutely  sure  just  when  we  have  worked  long  enough.  Our 
subjective  sensations  of  weariness  are  unreliable.  Sometimes, 
especially  if  work  is  monotonous  and  uninteresting,  we  tire 
quickly;  again,  we  may  become  so  absorbed  or  fascinated  by 
the  job  in  hand  that  we  lose  our  sense  of  time  and  drive  our- 
selves abnormally  without  any  consciousness  of  discomfort. 
These  facts  complicate  the  study  of  the  fatigue  problem.  We 
do  not  know  when  to  stop,  and  we  cannot  be  sure  that  we  are 
seriously  overworked  until  we  become  so  certain  that  it  is  too 
late.  Then  the  damage  has  been  done.  The  various  delicate 
protection  and  compensation  mechanisms  are  thrown  out  of 
alignment  and  our  machine  refuses  to  work. 

We  must  therefore  distinguish  clearly  between  normal  fatigue 
from  which  we  recover  over  night  or  over  the  week  end  and 
cumulative  fatigue  which  in  an  advanced  stage  is  often  asso- 
ciated with  a  nervous  breakdown,  a  pathological  condition  from 
which  simple  rest  in  the  ordinary  sense  gives  little  or  no 
relief.  Normal  fatigue  may  merge  almost  insensibly  into  cum- 


322  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

ulative  fatigue;  it  is  impossible  for  physicians  or  physiologists 
to  say  just  where  fatigue  ceases  to  be  normal  and  becomes 
cumulative.  Cumulative  or  pathological  fatigue  may  develop  in 
any  worker,  in  any  industry.  Unlike  certain  poisons,  or  exposed 
gears  and  belts,  this  particular  danger  is  not  limited  to  any 
specific  occupation  and  it  constitutes,  therefore,  the  most  widely 
distributed  industrial  health  hazard.  The  chief  reasons  why 
cumulative  fatigue  is  considered  a  formidable  health  hazard 
are:  (i)  the  difficulty  of  detecting  it  in  its  early  stages;  (2)  the 
fact  that  a  "nervous  breakdown"  frequently  means  a  permanent 
injury  to  health;  and  (3)  the  fact  that — unlike  the  more 
obvious  and  spectacular  hazards — cumulative  fatigue  is  not  well 
understood  and  neither  the  symptoms  nor  the  treatment  have 
received  the  attention  they  deserve,  .  . 

The  exact  relation  between  cumulative  fatigue  and  emotional 
over-stimulation  that  incites  to  excessive  effort  is  not  known. 
Both  conditions  approach  the  pathological  through  the  using  up 
of  energy  reserves  which  are  not  normally  accessible,  and  in 
failing  to  be  cured  by  a  brief  rest.  The  net  results  of  long 
continued  cumulative  fatigue  and  over-stimulation  are:  (i) 
"breakdown"  variously  interpreted  as  mental,  nervous,  neuroses, 
psychoses,  etc.;  (2)  loss  of  workers  in  the  turnover;  (3)  shorten- 
ing of  trade  life.  The  economic  disadvantages  of  these  results 
are  too  obvious  for  further  comment.  .  . 

In  passing  through  a  modern  factory  it  is  astonishing  to 
observe  the  amount  of  energy  that  is  wasted  by  workers.  We 
can  scarcely  begin  to  discuss  the  host  of  environment  factors 
that  contribute  to  the  normal  fatigue  of  industrial  workers. 
Some  of  these  factors,  such  as  illumination  and  ventilation, 
have  already  developed  to  highly  specialized  branches  of  engi- 
neering. In  both  of  these  cases,  however,  development  has 
been  one-sided ;  the  technical  phase  has  been  highly  perfected 
while  the  physiological  side  has  been  neglected.  The  most  ideal 
system  of  illumination  cannot  produce  and  maintain  a  maximum 
output  unless  the  eyes  of  the  workers  have  been  functionally 
perfected,  either  by  nature  or  the  oculist.  Optohietrists  know 
that  a  perfect  pair  of  eyes  adapted  for  both  near  and  far  vision 
is  the  rare  exception,  not  the  rule.  Progressive  managers  are 
just  beginning  to  appreciate  this  fact. 

In  launching  our  attack  upon  unnecessary  fatigue,  we  can 
well  begin  by  a  routine  examination  of  eyes.  Every  individual 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  323 

should  be  included,  for  even  if  glasses  are  being  worn  there  is 
no  guarantee  that  their  optical  formula  is  not  obsolete.  In 
making  this  systematic  examination  of  eyes,  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  fatigue  associated  with  so-called  "eye-strain" 
is  frequently  due  to  unbalanced  eye  muscles,  i.e.,  a  tendency  to 
be  cross-  or  wall-eyed.  Even  when  vision  is  perfect,  apparently 
mysterious  digestive  disturbances  and  headaches  often  result 
from  defective  eye  muscles.  Both  vision  and  eye  musculature 
must  therefore  be  critically  examined.  The  selecting  of  a  first 
class  man  to  make  the  eye  survey  is  an  economic  investment 
that  will  amply  repay  the  management  both  in  production  and 
morale. 

The  economic  advantages  of  proper  illumination  are  univer- 
sally appreciated  by  intelligent  managers.  More  light  means 
greater  production;  nothing  could  be  simpler.  But  when  we 
approach  the  more  complex  field  of  heating  and  ventilation  the 
answer  is  not  so  obvious.  To  a  physiologist  it  seems  astonish- 
ingly paradoxical  to  find  the  most  elaborate  routing  systems, 
time-study  methods  and  other  paraphernalia  of  scientific  man- 
agement in  a  plant  where  some  workers  perspire  beside  uncovered 
steam  pipes  and  others  in  the  same  room  are  cramped  by  cold. 
Frequently  managers  install  highly  accurate  therm-regulating 
devices  which  hold  the  temperature  but  disregard  humidity 
entirely.  And  yet  we  know  that  the  "zone  of  comfort"  is 
determined  both  by  moisture  and  temperature.  The  discomfort, 
lassitude  and  avoidable  fatigue  associated  with  a  hot,  over-moist 
working  environment  are  well  known.  Here  again  the  physio- 
logical aspects  of  the  problem  have  been  accorded  a  secondary 
place.  .  . 

Whenever  an  industrial  process  involves  heavy  work  or  work 
requiring  constant  standing  or  sitting,  and  especially  when  the 
task  is  repetitive  and  demands  constant  and  close  attention, 
rest  periods  should  be  introduced.  For  ideal  results,  both  the 
duration  and  the  distribution  of  the  rest  periods  must  be  deter- 
mined experimentally  for  each  individual  process.  A  five- 
minute  period  in  the  middle  of  the  morning  and  afternoon 
sessions  is  a  good  way  to  begin.  In  some  plants,  at  the  sound 
of  a  bell,  the  power  is  shut  down,  windows  are  opened  and  the 
group  operators  perform  a  few  simple  breathing  exercises.  This 
Is  sound  physiological  practice  for  by  increasing  respiration  the 
"fatigue  products"  in  the  blood  tend  to  disappear  by  oxidation. 


324  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

The  calisthenics  likewise  tend  to  distribute  the  fatigue  products 
in  a  uniform  way,  which  reduces  unpleasant  local  sensations 
of  discomfort  and  weariness.  Unless  the  exercises  are  conducted 
by  a  spirited  leader  they  are  likely  to  become  very  casual  and 
lose  much  of  their  effect.  In  such  cases  it  is  better  to  defer 
the  exercises  until  a  proper  leader  can  be  developed.  .  . 

What,  then,  is  our  final  conclusion  regarding  "standard" 
times  and  the  time-study  method?  Must  the  entire  technique 
be  considered  faulty,  unscientific  and  unpractical?  By  no  means. 
Astonishing  results  can  be  obtained  under  ideal  conditions. 
But  in  order  clearly  to  understand  these  results  we  must  first 
ask  why  time  study  was  ever  considered  necessary?  What  ever 
led  Taylor  to  think  of  the  scheme?  Briefly,  it  was  because  an 
antagonism  rather  than  a  harmony  existed  between  the  interests 
of  workers  and  managers.  We  are  not  concerned  with  deciding 
where  the  fault  lay.  Both  workers  and  managers  were  often 
ignorant,  prejudiced,  fooling  themselves  or  deliberately  dishonest 
all  along  the  line.  But  Taylor  saw,  through  the  eyes  of  an 
idealist,  that  if  mutual  confidence  and  trust  could  be  established 
in  place  of  soldiering,  driving,  rate  cutting  and  the  thousand 
other  throat-cutting  devices,  growing  out  of  mutual  suspicion — 
efficiency,  production,  harmony  and  profits  must  result.  Now 
where  time  study  and  task  setting  get  results  is  (i)  in  teaching 
the  management  what  it  has  forgotten  or  never  known  about 
the  difficulties  and  annoyance  of  individual  jobs  and  (2)  in 
actually  establishing  mutual  confidence  and  loyalty  between  the 
workers  and  management.  Less  "scientific"  but  equally  success- 
ful managers  have  found  that  where  man  and  master  really 
believe  in  each  other  conscientious  work  is  bound  to  result.  In 
other  words,  loyalty  and  fairness  are  fundamental  and  can  get 
results  without  "elementary  times";  and  elementary  times  get 
just  nowhere  alone.  It  is  not  the  God-like  irrevocability  of  a 
"standard  time"  that  makes  task  setting  successful,  but  the 
feeling  among  your  men  and  women  th-.it  the  cards  are  on  the 
table  face  up,  and  everyone  is  getting  a  square  deal.  The  engi- 
neers, conscious  of  the  third  decimal  in  their  time  elements,  are 
still  shouting  about  the  exactness  of  the  .time-study  method. 
They  keenly  resent  Hoxie's  criticisms  and  retaliate  by  calling 
him  "queer"  and  "prejudiced."  But  they  must  face  the  fact 
that  task  setting  is  a  dangerous  tool  in  unscrupulous,  ignorant 
or  inexperienced  hands.  They  must  realize  that  time-study 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  325 

methods  are  unstandardized.  They  should  insist  upon  a  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  Society  of  Industrial  Engineers  to  agree 
upon  a  unified  time-study  method.  Such  a  committee  should 
include,  in  addition  to  a  group  of  representative  time-study 
men,  at  least  one  expert  statistician,  a  psychologist,  a  psychiatrist, 
an  industrial  physician,  a  scientifically  trained  social  service 
worker  and  a  physiologist. 


PRACTICAL  APPLICATIONS  l 

This  principle  has  been  applied  practically  in  the  case  of 
five  hundred  shovellers  who  were  being  employed  in  shovelling, 
with  a  shovel  of  constant  size,  material  of  very  varying  weight, 
— sometimes  coal,  sometimes  ashes,  at  other  times  heavy  iron 
ore,  etc.  Experiments  were  conducted  with  shovels  of  different 
sizes  in  order  to  ascertain  the  optimal  weight  per  shovel  load 
for  a  good  shoveller.  The  best  average  weight  was  found  to  be 
twenty-one  pounds.  Accordingly  shovels  were  made  of  different 
sizes,  in  proportion  to  the  heaviness  of  the  material  shovelled, 
so  that  each  shovel  whether  full  of  coal,  ash  or  iron,  etc., 
weighed  twenty-one  pounds.  This  was  the 'most  important  inno- 
vation, although  others  were  at  the  same  time  carried  out.  The 
results  were  as  follows:  (i)  the  average  amount  shovelled  per 
day  rose  by  nearly  270  per  cent — from  16  to  59  tons  per  man, 
(2)  150  men  could  now  perform  what  500  men  had  performed 
under  previous  conditions,  (3)  the  average  earnings  of  the 
shovellers  increased  by  60  per  cent,  (4)  the  cost  to  the  manage- 
ment, after  paying  all  extra  expenses,  was  reduced  by  50  per 
cent,  (5)  there  was  no  evidence  of  increased  fatigue  of  the 
shovellers.  .  . 

Laboratory  experiments  have  shown  that  the  subjective  feel- 
ing of  fatigue  is  no  criterion  of  an  incapacity  to  perform 
satisfactory  work.  We  have  experimental  evidence  that  an 
excellent  output  of  work  may  be  obtained  when  the  feeling  of 
fatigue  is  severe.  A  similarly  untrustworthy  (but  opposite) 
feeling  of  efficiency  occurs  under  the  influence  of  alcohol  and 
in  certain  conditions  of  fatigue,  when  the  work  performed 
under  its  influence  is  actually  less  accurate  and  reliable. 

1  Charles  S.  Myers.  Present  Day  Applications  of  Psychology,  p.  8, 
14-15.  Methuen  and  Company,  Ltd.  London. 


326  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

During  rest  after  a  period  of  work  a  certain  amount  of 
practice  is  lost,  but  as  an  offset  to  this,  a  certain  amount  of 
fatigue  is  lost,  and  there  is  also,  on  the  other  hand,  a  loss  of 
incitement  and  settlement.  Various  experiments  have  been  con- 
ducted in  order  to  find  the  "most  favourable  pause,"  i.e.  the 
pause  in  which  the  various  factors  so  operate  as  to  produce  a 
maximal  amount  of  work  after  the  pause. 

In  the  factory  the  importance  of  interpolating  more  frequent 
rest  pauses  is  only  just  beginning  to  be  realized.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  an  unbroken  morning  or  afternoon's  work  of 
four  or  more  hours  is  economically  unsound,  and  that  the 
systematic  introduction  of  rest  pauses  (together  with  the  elim- 
ination of  periods  of  slackness,  needless  movements,  etc.)  must 
lead  to  a  vast  improvement  in  quantity  and  quality  of  work. 
Let  me  exemplify  this  by  quoting*  the  results  of  a  trench- 
digging  competition  during  the  present  war  between  two  com- 
panies. The  officer  of  one  company  allowed  his  men  to  work 
uninterruptedly  until  their  condition  demanded  a  rest.  The 
officer  of  the  rival  company  divided  his  men  into  three  sections, 
of  which  each  section  successively  worked  their  utmost  for 
five  minutes  and  rested  for  ten  minutes.  This  systematic  arrange- 
ment resulted  in  an  easy  win  for  his  company.  So  too  in  a 
certain  munitions  factory,  the  interpolation  of  a  fifteen-minute 
rest  in  each  hour  is  reported  to  have  yielded  a  definite  increase 
in  the  output  of  work,  despite  the  initial  objection  of  the  men, 
who  were  being  paid  by  piece-work. 

The  German  shipbuilders  have  recognized  the  better  output 
of  work  on  the  Clyde,  despite,  nay  rather  because  of,  the 
shorter  hours  of  their  daily  work.  A  certain  firm  in  Manchester 
had  factories  both  in  Lancashire  and  Belgium.  The  hours  of 
work  in  their  Lancashire  factory  were  fifty-one  a  week:  in  their 
Belgian  factory  sixty-six  a  week.  Yet  for  identical  work,  the 
Lancashire  operatives  produced  the  larger  output. 


PHYSIOLOGY  OF  MONOTONY1 

It  goes  without   saying  that  monotony  of  work,   of   which 
these  are  random  examples,  cannot  be  avoided  in  our  industries. 

1  Josephine    Goldmark.      Fatigue    and    Efficiency,     p.    67-8.     New    York 
Charities   Publication   Committee.   1912. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  .   327 

? 

It  is  a  part  of  their  development,  and  even  when  ingenious 
machines  are  invented  to  do  work  previously  done  by  hand,  the 
running  and  feeding  of  such  machines  often  provides  only 
another  form  of  monotonous  work  for  the  human  agent.  With 
subdivision,  and  the  loss  of  craftsmanship,  monotony  of  work 
in  greater  or  less  degree  is  inevitable,  and  may  well  be  accepted 
as  such.  For  when  once  monotony  is  recognized  as  a  real 
hardship,  and  as  in  itself  a  source  of  fatigue,  rational  means 
of  relieving  it  may  be  sought,  in  shortening  hours  of  monotonous 
labor  and  alternating  work  of  different  kinds.  .  . 

From  our  physiological  point  of  view,  this  is  entirely  logical, 
because  the  strain  of  monotony  is  not  due  merely  to  the  distaste 
for  work  and  the  aversion  it  engenders.  Monotony  of  occupa- 
tion is  a  true  factor  in  inducing  fatigue,  because  it  has  a  true 
physiological  basis,  which 'can  briefly  be  made  clear.  We  know 
that  with  repetition  and  sameness  of  use  there  results  continu- 
ous fatigue  of  the  muscle  or  organ  used.  So,  too,  with  the  nerve 
centers  from  which  our  motive  power  springs.  We  must  bear 
in  mind  that  the  special  functions  of  the  brain  have  separate 
centers.  Thus,  there  is  a  center  for  hearing,  another  for  sight, 
another  for  speech,  etc.  When  certain  centers  are  working  con- 
tinuously, monotonously,  from  morning  to  night,  day  by  day 
and  week  by  week,  it  is  physiologically  inevitable  that  they 
should  tire  more  easily  than  when  work  is  sufficiently  varied 
to  call  upon  other  centers  in  turn. 

The  monotony  of  so-called  light  and  easy  work  may  thus 
be  more  damaging  to  the  organism  than  heavier  work  which 
gives  some  chance  for  variety,  some  outlet  for  our  innate  revolt 
against  unrelieved  repetitions.  Monotony  often  inflicts  more  in- 
jury than  greater  muscular  exertion  just  because  it  requires  con- 
tinuous receiving  work  from  nerve  centers,  fatigue  of  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  reacts  with  such  disastrous  consequences  upon 
our  total  life  and  health.  The  evils  of  monotony  illustrate  again 
how  closely  all  the  functions  of  our  life  are  bound  up  together; 
how  the  physical  and  nervous  and  psychic  parts  of  us  react  and 
interact  upon  one  another.  Aversion  from  a  monotonous  grind 
of  work,  the  effort  of  the  will  to  "keep  up,"  requires  just  so 
much  more  nervous  stimulus  from  already  tired  nerve  centers. 


328  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 


SCIENTIFIC  CONTROL  OF  FATIGUE  FACTORS1 

If  a  search  after  ways  of  eliminating  fatigue  is  to  be 
thorough  the  individual  worker  should  be  carefully  observed 
and  the  conditions  of  his  task  should  be  carefully  analyzed. 
Such  an  analysis  reveals  that  there  are  primary  and  secondary 
sources  of  fatigue.  The  primary  source  of  fatigue  lies  in  the 
performance  of  the  essential  part  of  the  operation  itself  involv- 
ing the  transformation  of  a  definite  amount  of  energy.  This 
is  the  irreducible  minimum,  stripped  of  all  non-essential  ac- 
companiments. It  is  sometimes  possible,  as  will  be  shown  later, 
to  measure  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  the  amount  of  work 
performed  in  this  essential  part  of  the  operation  and  thus  de- 
termine the  primary  fatiguing  capacity  of  the  task.  This  source 
of  fatigue  is  unavoidable. 

But  it  is  different  with  the  secondary  sources  of  fatigue. 
These  comprise  certain  actions  and  bodily  positions  which  ac- 
company but  are  not  needed  in  performing  the  task,  together 
with  certain  other  environmental  conditions  under  which  the 
task  is  performed.  Gilbreth  found  that  with  the  customary  way 
of  laying  bricks  eighteen  motions  were  employed  in  laying  a 
single  brick,  but  eleven  of  these  could  be  omitted  altogether,  and 
some  of  the  others  could  be  combined,  so  that  the  required  mo- 
tions were  reduced  to  one  and  three-quarters.  The  material  and 
the  tools  which  the  worker  uses  are  often  placed  at  a  distance 
from  his  hands  and  not  where  he  can  get  them  with  the  least 
possible  movement  and  expenditure  of  energy.  A  worker  is 
often  forced  to  stand  at  his  work,  when  he  might  more  eco- 
nomically sit.  Stools  are  less  efficient  as  labor  savers  than  are 
chairs;  and  a  chair  should  have  an  adjustable  back.  A  high 
chair  should  be  provided  with  an  adjustable  foot  rest,  especially 
with  women  workers.  The  rate  of  a  factory  machine  run  by 
power  is  usually  set  more  or  less  arbitrarily  and  the  worker  is 
expected  to  conform  to  it,  although  his  own  neuromuscular 
rhythm,  the  rhythm  at  which  he  can  do  his  best  work,  may  be 
slower.  Such  conditions  of  work,  while  they  may  appear  trivial, 
nevertheless,  may  cause  needless  muscular  contractions, 

1  Frederick  S.  Lee.  The  Human  Machine  and  Industrial  Efficiency, 
p.  19-23,  45-8.  Longmans,  Green  and  Company.  New  York.  1918.  Re- 
printed by  permission. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  329 

needless  and  unwise  expenditure  of  energy,  and  thus  may  add  to 
the  fatigue  of  the  worker.  Their  avoidance  is  usually  a  simple 
matter. 

Other  environmental  contributing  causes  of  fatigue  relate  to 
illumination,  ventilation,  food,  and  various  sanitary  conditions. 

Here  may  be  mentioned  lack  of  sufficient  illumination,  mis- 
placed artificial  lights,  and  location  of  workers  and  machines  so 
as  not  to  secure  the  full  benefit  of  window  lighting.  Even. when 
general  illumination  is  sufficient  a  glare  of  light  on  the  work 
bench  or  the  material  may  be  harmful. 

Lack  of  proper  ventilation  is  a  frequent  condition  of  un- 
necessary fatigue.  The  investigators  of  the  Public  Health  Ser- 
vice have  found  that  the  different  members  of  a  group  of  work- 
ers on  the  same  job  frequently  show  similar  variations  in  total 
strength ;  and  the  same  is  shown  by  different  groups  of  workers 
who  have  different  jobs  but  similar  external  environments. 
Such  facts  indicate  that  strength  is  affected  by  external  in- 
fluences, and  the  investigators  have  found  that  air  temperatures 
of  85°F.,  or  above,  especially  when  maintained  for  several  days, 
reduce  the  worker's  strength.  My  colleague,  Dr.  Scott,  and  I 
have  shown  by  a  series  of  experiments  on  animals  that  the  heat 
and  humidity  of  the  air  diminish  muscular  power.  At  an 
average  temperature  of  O9°F.  (2i°C.)  and  an  average  humidity 
of  52  per  cent  the  total  amount  of  work  that  could  be  performed 
by  certain  selected  muscles  before  they  were  exhausted  was  re- 
garded as  100  per  cent;  after  the  animals  had  been  exposed  for 
six  hours  to  an  "intermediate"  condition  of  temperature  of  75° F- 
(24°C.)  and  humidity  of  70  per  cent  the  total  work  possible  fell 
to  85  per  cent,  and  after  a  "high"  of  9i°F.  (33°C.)  and  humidity 
of  90  per  cent,  the  work  dropped  to  76  per  cent.  Not  only  a  hot 
and  humid  but  a  still  atmosphere  is  bad ;  the  air  of  the  working 
place  should  be  reasonably  cool,  moderately  dry,  and  kept  in 
motion.  An  absolutely  constant  temperature  is  not  so  beneficial 
as  one  that  is  varied.  The  enervating  effect  of  a  high  tempera- 
ture may  be  much  avoided  by  the  use  of  electric  fans.  A  purely 
artificial  system  of  ventilation  is  probably  never  so  efficient  as 
one  that  makes  use  also  of  open  windows,  with  their  possibili- 
ties of  playing  upon  the  skin  a  variable  air  supply.  Variety  is 
one  of  the  essentials  of  good  ventilation. 

Lack  of  adequate  and  properly  selected  and  cooked  food  is 
a  frequent  obstacle  to  high  productivity.  The  same  may  be  said 


330  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

of  a  lack  of  adequate  bathing  and  toilet  facilities.  The  time 
has  gone  by  when  these  aids  to  cleanliness  are  to  be  considered 
as  mere  needless  luxuries.  If  the  human  machine  is  to  be  in 
its  best  working  condition  it  must  be  kept  clean  within  and 
without. 

While  these  causes  of  fatigue  are  secondary  they  are  none 
the  less  real  and  their  elimination  conduces  to  the  greater  pro- 
ductivity of  the  human  machine. 

In  order  to  preserve  the  working  power  daily  fatigue  should 
not  be  so  great  that  it  cannot  be  substantially  removed  by  the 
night's  rest;  weekly  fatigue  ought  likewise  to  be  dispelled  by 
the  rest  of  Sunday.  If  this  is  not  accomplished,  if  there  is  a 
residue  of  this  powerful  obstacle  to  efficiency  accumulating 
from  day  to  day  and  from  week  to  week,  serious  results  will 
surely  follow.  This  was  precisely  the  situation  in  the  munitions 
industry  of  England.  Sixteen  months  after  the  war  began  the 
British  Health  of  Munitions  Workers  Committee  wrote:  "Tak- 
ing the  country  as  a  whole  the  Committee  are  bound  to  record 
their  impression  that  the  munitions  workers  in  general  have 
been  allowed  to  reach  a  state  of  reduced  efficiency  and  lowered 
health  which  might  have  been  avoided  without  reduction  of  out- 
put by  attention  to  the  details  and  weekly  rests.  And  again, 
twenty-two  months  later,  the  Committee  wrote :  "The  conditions 
are  not  the  same  now  as  they  were  in  the  early  days  of  the  war; 
not  only  have  large  numbers  of  the  youngest  and  strongest 
workers  been  withdrawn  for  military  service,  but  those  who  re- 
main are  suffering  from  the  strain  inseparable  from  a  continu- 
ous period  of  long  hours  of  employment.  .  .  The  effects  of  the 
strain  may  even  have  been  already  more  serious  than  appears  on 
the  surface,  for  while  it  is  possible  to  judge  roughly  the  general 
condition  of  those  working  in  the  factory  today,  little  informa- 
tion is  available  concerning  the  large  number  of  workers  who, 
for  one  reason  or  another,  and  often  because  they  find  the  work 
too  arduous,  are  continually  giving  up  their  job."  This  experi- 
ence of  England  ought  to  serve  as  a  lesson  to  other  countries, 
and  especially  to  America. 

A  particularly  insidious  way  of  nullifying  the  'advantages 
of  a  short  working-day  that  is  not  uncommon  is  the  imposition 
of  overtime,  keeping  the  employee  for  an  evening  of  work  after 
the  day's  work  is  done.  Here  a  peculiarity  of  the  human  ma- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  331 

chine  is  of  interest.  Mosso  showed  long  ago  that  fatigue  does 
not  increase  in  arithmetical  proportion  to  the  increase  in  work 
done,  but  that  added  work  imposed  upon  an  already  fatigued 
individual  is  disproportionately  more  fatiguing  and  requires  a 
longer  time  for  recuperation.  Kent  found  that  the  keenness  of 
the  sight  of  industrial  workers  is  diminished  in  a  greater  degree 
by  a  day  with  overtime,  than  by  a  day  of  the  usual  length. 
When  overtime  is  imposed  the  further  call  upon  the  depressed 
tissues  can,  indeed,  be  answered  for  a  while  by  further  action — 
the  human  machine  can  spurt — but  the  more  healthful  occupa- 
tion of  the  evening,  in  view  of  the  work  of  the  morrow,  would 
be  one  of  recreation  and  rest.  If  overtime  is  ever  thought 
necessary,  as  in  a  real  and  serious  emergency,  it  should  be  only 
occasional  and  should  be  followed  by  an  added  compensating 
resting  period. 

What  is  said  of  overtime  applies  with  equal  force  to  Sunday 
labor  following  six  days'  occupation.  Here,  again,  the  example 
of  England  is  instructive.  As  a  direct  result  of  the  study  of 
industrial  fatigue  since  the  war  began  the  British  Committee 
puts  it  tersely  in  saying  "It  is  almost  a  commonplace  that  seven 
days'  labor  only  produces  six  days'  output,"  and  adds  that  in 
Great  Britain  "Sunday  labor  for  men  is  now  greatly  restricted 
in  amount  and  has  been  practically  abolished  for  women  and 
young  persons." 

A  further  matter  of  importance  may  here  be  mentioned.  An 
observant  visitor  to  the  factories  cannot  fail  to  notice  that  he 
rarely  sees  old  men  or  women  among  employees.  This  is  so 
evident  that  the  presence  of  an  aged  worker  appears  anomalous. 
There  is  a  widespread  opinion  that  forty-five  represents  the  re- 
tiring age  for  most  industrial  workers.  In  an  investigation  of 
1761  brass  foundrymen  in  Chicago  in  191 1,  Hayhurst  found  that 
there  were  but  17,  or  0.97  per  cent,  over  fifty  years  of  age,  and 
but  180,  or  10.2  per  cent,  estimated  at  over  forty  years.  The 
question  immediately  arises:  What  is  responsible  for  the  ab- 
sence of  workers  beyond  middle  life;  and  the  answer  inevitably 
comes  to  mind  that  the  rigor  of  the  game  incapacitates  them  at 
an  age  when  human  beings  are  expected  still  to  be  doing  excel- 
lent work.  If  this  is  so,  the  accumulated  fatigue  of  many  years 
is  the  decisive  factor.  The  remedy  would  appear  to  be  a 
diminution  in  the  hours  of  labor  and  the  installation  of  other 
conditions  not  so  severe  for  the  human  machine  and  conducive 


332  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

to  its  longer  usefulness.  In  a  field  in  which  accurate  data  are 
largely  wanting  and  an  intensive  study  is  much  needed,  it  is 
impossible  to  draw  decisive  conclusions,  but  the  subject  offers 
food  for  enticing  speculation. 


SOME    GUIDING   PURPOSES    IN    FATIGUE 
STUDIES  x 

Efficiency  engineers  and  psychologists  are  actively  engaged 
in  experimentation  upon  many  other  factors  which  may  affect 
the  worker  and  his  output.  One  such  form  of  experimentation 
is  upon  the  effect  of  distraction  (introduction  of  conflicting 
stimuli).  In  every  business  office  or  factory  there  are,  of  course, 
noises  of  machinery,  typewriters,  telephone  conversations  and 
the  like.  Morgan  has  shown  that  where  the  stimulating  value 
of  the  problem  is  kept  high,  loss  in  the  output  from  any  function 
though  distraction  is  very  much  less  than  is  popularly  supposed 
(although  the  subject  exerts  greater  muscular  effort,  presses 
down  harder  upon  the  keys,  etc.).  It  is  well  known  that  sudden 
noises  and  those  infrequently  met  with  have  a  disturbing  effect 
on  account  of  their  tendency  to  arouse  the  fear  reaction.  Where 
the  disturbances  are  regular  the  phenomenon  of  adaptation  enters 
in  and  the  worker  ceases  to  be  disturbed  by  extraneous  stimuli. 
One  of  the  most  striking  illustrations  of  this  was  observed  in 
the  Army.  In  the  Air  Personnel  office  when  the  force  was 
small,  typewriters  had  to  be  stopped  when  long-distance  calls 
were  answered.  As  the  pressure  of  the  work  increased  and  as 
the  office  force  trebled  and  quadrupled,  it  was  no  uncommon 
sight  to  see  a  man  answering  a  long-distance  telephone  call  with 
fifteen  or  twenty  typewriters  going  in  his  immediate  neighbor- 
hood and  a  hundred  or  more  going  in  the  one  large  room. 
Again,  while  experimentation  over  short  periods  of  time  may 
show  that  such  stimuli  are  without  immediate  effect,  it  still 
seems  safest  to  have  offices  and  factories  arranged  so  that  the 
worker  is  as  free  as  possible  from  extraneous  disturbances.  The 
wear  and  tear  on  the  human  organism  is  probably  a  positive 
thing  even  though  temporary  laboratory  studies  fail  to  give 
marked  evidences  of  it. 

1 J.  B.  Watson.  Psychology  from  the  Standpoint  of  a  Behaviorist. 
p.  379-81,  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company.  Philadelphia.  1919. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  333 

Recently  a  large  number  of  experiments  have  been  made 
upon  the  most  satisfactory  systems  of  lighting.  Indeed,  there 
is  now  a  well-organized  society  of  illuminating  engineers. 
There  is  general  agreement  that  bright  lights  are  disturbing  and 
that  evenness  and  uniformity  in  illumination  rather  than  great 
intensity  are  the  conditions  to  be  striven  for  except  in  those 
cases  where  the  task  demands  high  intensity,  as  in  drafting  and 
the  doing  of  fine  work  generally. 

It  seems  that  a  general  caution  on  all  efficiency  experimenta- 
tion is  not  out  of  place  here.  In  recent  years  there  has  been  a 
constant  tendency  to  turn  to  the  study  of  man:  the  technic  and 
machine  sides  of  industry  have  been  worked  up  to  a  point  of 
maximum  efficiency.  Output  if  increased  must  come  from  a 
better  understanding  of  man.  Psychologists  have  aided  and 
abetted  industry  in  solving  this  problem.  When  the  improved 
output  comes  from  selecting  the  most  suitable  man  for  the  task, 
from  eliminating  waste  effort,  improving  training  methods,  and 
allowing  recreation  and  proper  periods  of  rest,  such  efforts  are 
in  the  right  direction.  But  the  industries  are  undoubtedly  abus- 
ing the  situation.  Every  effort  is  being  made,  by  the  bonus  sys- 
tem, appeal  to  loyalty,  patriotism  and  pride,  to  grind  as  much 
out  of  the  organism  as  possible  in  the  shortest  space  of  time. 
We  would  not  stay  the  advance  of  efficiency  engineering  for  a 
moment,  but  we  would  urge  that  every  device  for  getting  in- 
creased output  from  the  worker  should,  before  being  recom- 
mended and  adopted,  be  studied  from  the  standpoint  of  its  ef- 
fect upon  the  total  activity  of  the  worker  in  popular  terms,  its 
effect  upon  his  happiness  and  comfort. 


STANDARD  OBJECTIVES  FOR  REDUCTION  OF 
FATIGUE x 

Closely  bearing  on  the  subject  of  the  length  of  the  working 
day,  and  intimately  related  to  the  economy  in  power  production, 
is  the  question  of  fatigue.  It  would  be  without  our  province  to 
discuss  here  the  effects  of  "fatigue  toxins"  on  the  nervous  system 
and  vitality  of  workers;  and  many  excellent  researches  have  re- 
cently been  made  on  the  subject.  The  point  of  immediate  import- 

1  Walter  N.  Polakov.  Fatigue  and  Industrial  Efficiency.  Industrial 
Management.  December,  1919.  p.  448-52. 


334  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

ance  is  the  ill  effects  of  fatigue  in  industry,  on  society,  and  some 
means  of  its  elimination.  It  has  been  pointed  out  by  those 
studying  the  subject  that  the  greatest  proportion  of  occupational 
fatigue  is  of  nervous  origin.  Mr.  Charles  S.  Myers,  Director 
of  Cambridge  Psychological  Laboratory  explained  that,  "The 
central  nervous  system  (the  brain  and  the  spinal  cord)  acted  as 
a  protection  against  muscular  fatigue,  and  it  was  only  in  the 
extremely  strenuous  work  of  comparatively  few  occupations 
that  there  was  a  serious  degree  of  muscular  fatigue."  Indeed, 
when  a  person  was  actually  fatigued,  he  might  temporarily  do 
far  better  muscular  work  than  when  he  was  not,  for  a  certain 
status  of  fatigue  produces  a  feeling  of  ability  to  work,  though 
the  work  may  fall  very  far  short  in  quality  if  not  in  quantity. 
This  fact  is  of  great  importance  to  power  plant  work,  where 
the  quality  of  work  is  of  paramount  importance,  while  quantity 
is  economically  of  slight  value.  In  cases  of  firemen  attending 
hand-fired  furnaces  numerous  tests  are  on  record  plainly  indi- 
cating that  as  fatigue  grows  the  ability  of  shoveling  coal  into 
the  fire  does  not  diminish,  while  the  quality  of  combustion  is 
getting  steadily  poorer  as  indicated  by  the  number  of  pounds  of 
steam  produced  per  pound  of  coal. 

In  cases  of  mechanically  stoked  boilers  physical  fatigue  plays 
a  still  more  subordinate  role,  whereas  that  of  nervous  and  men- 
tal origin  obviously  predominates.  It  is  significant  to  note  that 
the  monotony  of  work  in  the  fire  rooms  equipped  with  stokers, 
whose  motions  are  hardly  perceptible,  where  silence  or  monoton- 
ous humming  is  seldom  broken,  while  the  illumination  is  usually 
best  adaptated  for  slumbering  meditation,  has  a  most  ruinous 
effect  on  economy.  Feelings  of  weariness  and  fatigue  arising 
from  this  deadening  monotony  make  long  hours  for  firemen  not 
only  nerve-wrecking  but  highly  extravagant  from  the  viewpoint 
of  economy.  While  periodic  rest  and  recreation  may  prevent  a 
large  turnover  among  firemen  and  a  don't  care  spirit,  means 
for  dispelling  the  monotony  are  extremely  valuable  both  from 
the  standpoints  of  welfare  and  economy.  The  rule  almost  with- 
out exception  that  proportionally  larger  savings  of  fuel  may 
be  made  in  the  mechanically  stoked  boiler  rooms  than  in  the 
hand  fired  ones  is  to  be  attributed  principally  to  this  fatigue- 
producing  monotony.  Installation  of  instruments,  requests  for 
log-keeping  and  brighter  lighting  alone  show  in  the  writer's  ex- 
perience a  marked  increase  in  economy,  sometimes  reaching 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  335 

twelve  per  cent  improvement  in  efficiency.  Yet  such  measures 
alone  cannot  be  depended  upon  to  produce  lasting  effect,  as  they 
themselves,  in  course  of  time,  will  lose  their  stimulating  value  of 
novelty,  and  become  familiar,  monotonous  adjuncts  of  the  "old 
dirty  hole."  Intellectual  awakening,  training,  competition,  sport- 
ing spirit,  bonuses  and  other  forms  of  incentives  are  therefore 
producing  as  a  rule  favorable  results,  even  when  clumsy  and 
unfit,  yet  if  inaugurated  with  proper  thoughtfulness,  upon 
thorough  analysis  of  all  circumstances  and  in  accordance  with 
a  far-sighted  policy,  these  and  similar  measures  are  completely 
regenerating  for  the  spirit. 

Generalizations  from  a  typical  case  or  from  individual, 
single-day  tests,  however  interesting,  are  lacking  the  indications 
as  to  how  the  fatigue  accumulates  day  by  day  during  the  week. 
Monday's  chart  shows  undoubtedly  a  feeling  of  fatigue  after 
Sunday's  rest;  while  power  demand  is  fairly  steady  and  peaks 
are  uniformly  high  in  both  morning  and  in  the  afternoon  spells, 
they  do  not  reach  the  same  heights  as  on  Tuesday  when  the  feel- 
ing of  realization  of  fatigue  is  somewhat  worn  off;  the  periods 
of  high  output  during  spells  are  noteworthy  by  their  durations. 
On  Wednesday  morning  the  fatigue  is  not  felt  yet,  but  in  the 
afternoon  it  begins  to  manifest  itself  by  a  steadily  decreasing 
use  of  power.  Thursday  is  a  day  when  the  industrial  community 
becomes  really  tired ;  after  short  effort  in  the  early  morning  the 
work  drags  fourteen  to  fifteen  per  cent  less  actively  than  on 
Tuesday.  On  Friday  a  supreme  effort  is  made  at  the  start  of 
the  day  by  tired  men  to  work  hard,  but  collapse  follows  at  once 
and  the  output  rapidly  falls  in  an  avalanche  fashion  to  the  lowest 
point  on  the  record;  Saturday  morning  finds  men  without  any 
ambition  left,  no  peaks  to  indicate  any  vestige  of  the  morning 
spell,  although  fairly  high,  men  probably  being  spurred  by  antici- 
pation of  the  holiday,  while  some  likely  are  rushing  to  finish 
their  week's  tasks. 

The  accumulative  fatigue,  so  plainly  evident  from  these 
graphs,  is  of  the  utmost  importance:  it  seems  to  indicate  that 
the  seven-day  week  (traditional  since  Biblical  times  and  suitable 
for  occupations  of  that  degree  of  civilization)  is  too  long  for 
our  days  of  strenuous  effort.  But  it  also  suggests  a  desirability 
of  securing  similar  data  for  fifty-two  weeks  of  the  year  showing 
the  accumulation  of  fatigue  throughout  the  year.  Unfortunately, 
this  kind  of  data  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  secure  because  of 


336  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

seasonal  fluctuation  of  the  amount  of  work,  number  of  employ- 
ees, climatic  changes  and  numerous  other  interfering  factors. 

However,  these  wavy  lines  of  fatigue  and  spells  have  a  great 
deal  more  than  academic  value.  By  careful  study  of  them  the 
possibility  of  combating  the  ill-effect  of  fatigue  on  health,  safety 
and  productivity  may  be  devised.  In  certain  manual  operations 
performed  in  power  plants  such  as  wheeling  of  coal,  the  inter- 
mittent work  and  rest  periods  were  arranged  after  exhaustive 
tests  with  the  result  that  men  who  were  fatigued  and  ready  to 
"fire  the  job"  not  wanting  to  "kill  themselves"  by  wheeling  in 
forty-five  thousand  pounds  of  coal  in  twelve  hours,  were  made 
contented,  and  thought  the  job  a  "cinch"  when,  by  following  our 
instruction,  they  wheeled  in  sixty  thousand  to  sixty-five  thou- 
sand pounds  in  eight  hours. 

The  reduction  and  general  gradual  elimination  of  fatigue 
through  adequate  rest  and  proper  recreation,  better  adapted  tools 
and  surroundings  of  work,  substitution  of  interest  in  work  for 
monotony,  etc.,  is  the  task  of  utmost  importance  from  the  view- 
point of  national  economy  as  it  at  once  not  only  conserves  the 
health  of  the  nation  and  increases  the  productivity  and  well- 
being  of  the  community  but  it  materially  conserves  our  fuel  re- 
sources for  posterity. 

The  task  of  engineers  viewed  in  this  light  is  this,  to  provide 
opportunities  for  leisure  rather  than  to  invent  new  yokes  and 
tread  mills. 


XVIII.  THE  PATHOLOGY  OF  THE 
WORKER 

The  application  of  the  principles  of  mental  hygiene  to  indus- 
try is  in  its  initial  stages,  and  the  time  is  not  ripe  to  make  hard 
and  fast  conclusions.  It  is  not  too  early  however  to  draw  the 
attention  of  business  executives  to  the  practical  progress  that 
has  already  been  made  and  to  the  main  lines  of  development. 
The  actual  accomplishments  thus  far  and  the  angle  of  approach 
to  some  of  the  most  baffling  industrial  problems  are  sufficient  to 
suggest  the  great  contributions  that  may  be  expected  steadily  in 
the  future  from  this  source. 


THE  MENTAL  HYGIENE  OF  INDUSTRY1 

Just  as  nobody  would  now  think  of  denying  the  routine 
value  of  physicians  and  surgeons  in  industrial  plants,  so  nobody 
can  fail  to  note  the  good  done  by  ordinary  social  workers  in 
connection  with  industry.  There  is  simply  no  dispute  on  either 
of  these  matters.  To  be  sure,  some  managers  may  stress  the 
welfare  values  of  the  doctor  and  the  social  worker,  while  other 
managers  think  of  them  as  contributing  to  plant  efficiency.  But 
these  are  questions  of  the  temperament  of  the  managers,  not  of 
the  nature  of  the  results  in  the  plants. 

Now  it  requires  no  great  refinement  of  viewpoint  to  see 
that,  instead  of  a  general  practitioner  of  medicine,  for  some 
plant  purposes  (e.g.,  discharge,  grievance,  and  certain  turnover 
problems)  a  physician  with  psychiatrist  training  would  serve 
far  better.  The  psychiatrist  is  by  training  and  experience  a 
specialist  in  grievances;  why  is  it  not  logical  to  apply  this 
specialism  to  the  grievances  of  industrial  plants?  On  precisely 
the  same  grounds,  the  social  worker  with  psychiatric  experience 
is  preferable  to  the  general  social  worker  for  the  purposes  of 

1  E.  E.  Southard.  The  Mental  Hygiene  of  Industry.  Industrial  Man- 
agement.  February,  1920.  p.  101-4. 


338  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

industry,  if  we  can  prove  that  a  considerable  number  of  the 
more  difficult  plant  problems  are  psychiatric  or  have  a  psy- 
chiatric tinge. 

For  the  present  argument,  may  I  take  for  granted  that  the 
values  of  psychiatric,  social  workers  outside  of  industry,  both 
in  war  work  and  in  peace  work,  are  generally  admitted?  To 
be  sure,  there  may  not  be  over  two  hundred  trained  and 
experienced  psychiatric  social  workers  in  the  country  at  the 
present  writing;  accordingly  it  is  only  where  they  do  exist  or 
have  been  at  work  that  their  values  are  even  understood,  much 
less  questioned.  But  there  is,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  dissen- 
tient word  anywhere  about  the  results  of  these  workers,  where 
they  are  in  evidence  at  all.  .  . 

The  problem  of  mental  hygiene  is  wider  than  medicine  and 
wider  than  the  branch  of  medicine  that  deals  with  nervous  and 
mental  diseases.  The  problem  touches  mental  and  social  sciences 
and  arts  of  the  greatest  breadth.  Yet  the  indispensable  core  of 
the  problem  may  well  turn  out  to  be  medical.  I  had  the 
privilege,  in  the  Spring  of  1917,  of  many  remarkable  hours  of 
consultation  with  the  late  Carleton  Parker.  He  had,  as  every- 
body knows,  come  to  a  view  of  the  great  importance  of  the 
underlying  ideas  of  mental  disease  and  defect  in  the  problem  of 
industrial  unrest.  Every  psychiatrist  who  appeared  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  was  eagerly  interviewed  by  Parker  for  what  said 
psychiatrist  might  say  on  problems  like  those  of  temperament, 
monotony,  fatigue  and  the  like.  It  is  a  great  wonder  that  an 
economist  could  have  come  independently  to  this  point  of  view. 
Perhaps  if  more  economists  with  thoroughly  scientific  training 
should  live  with  the  workmen  as  Carleton  Parker  did  with  the 
hoboes,  the  problem  of  hiring  and  firing,  of  promotion,  of  job 
selection,  and  in  fact  the  entire  problem  of  personnel,  would  get 
settled  faster.  .  . 

Miss  Mary  C.  Jarrett,  now  working  on  this  topic  under  the 
Engineering  Foundation,  published  briefly  certain  studies  of  the 
psychopathic  employee  as  a  result  of  her  Psychopathic  Hospital 
work.  .  . 

In  a  later  paper  Miss  Jarrett  has  discussed  what  she  has 
termed  shell-shock  analogues  under  civilian  conditions.  She 
says  concerning  the  war  neuroses  themselves;  "The  considera- 
tions that  strike  the  psychiatric  social  worker  in  this  situation 
are,  first,  the  desire  that  this  new,  widespread  knowledge  of 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  339 

the  neuroses  that  war  is  making  prominent  may  be  turned  to 
the  advantage  and  relief  of  civilians  who  suffer  from  similar 
troubles  and  receive  inadequate  consideration;  second,  that 
experience  in  the  social  care  of  civil  cases  of  similar  nature 
may  be  used  to  advantage  in  restoring  soldiers  suffering  from 
shell-shock  to  normal  social  condition;  third,  that  a  thorough, 
intelligent  public  understanding  of  these  disorders  should  be 
established  against  the  day  when  the  soldier  who  suffered  shell- 
shock  shall  have  again  become  a  civilian,  and  the  cause  of  his 
trouble  may  not  be  remembered  acutely  enough  to  arouse  sym- 
pathy for  symptoms  that  still  persist." 

She  found  that  the  analogues  of  shell-shock  in  civil  life 
appeared  frequently  at  the  Psychopathic  Hospital.  The  range 
of  exciting  causes  was  from  trivial  incidents,  such  as-  a  quarrel 
or  reprimand,  to  a  profound  shock,  such  as  an  accident  in  which 
the  patient  is  severely  injured  and  a  companion  killed.  She 
found  another  feature  of  the  situation,  which  the  layman  can- 
not readily  understand,  namely,  that  the  severity  of  the  symptoms 
is  not  at  all  proportionate  to  the  size  or  apparent  importance 
of  the  cause.  Treatment,  however,  must  be  relative  to  the 
gravity  of  the  disease  and  not  to  the  nature  of  the  particular 
strain  or  shock  which  induced  the  condition.  She  narrates 
cases  in  detail  to  show  first  certain  failures  in  social  treatment 
which  come  about  through  lack  of  medical  resources  and  in- 
ability to  compel  treatment,  secondly,  cases  of  pronounced 
success  obtained  by  comparatively  slight  service,  such  as  advice 
to  the  family  or  finding  the  patient  a  suitable  position,  and 
thirdly,  cases  in  which  results  were  only  obtained  with  the 
most  intensive  social  care. 

These  cases  included  a  failure  to  cure  a  perfectly  curable 
neurosis,  in  an  Italian  laborer  simply  because  medical  facilities 
were  not  available  in  his  home  town  and  he  could  not  be  brought 
to  a  central  clinic;  cases  of  character  change  following  acci- 
dent, cases  of  amnesia,  and  the  like.  Some  of  these  cases 
might  seem  to  run  far  afield  from  industry,  but  Miss  Jarrett 
was  able  to  find  important  connections  between  these  cases  and 
a  variety  of  employment  situations  with  the  net  result  in  many 
instances  of  complete  adjustment.  Something  like  half  the  cases 
of  social  work  in  mental  hygiene  clinics,  such  as  that  of  the 
Psychopathic  Hospital  in  Boston,  will  be  found  to  throw  light 
on  various  aspects  of  the  employment  problem. 


340  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

Readers  of  engineering  journals  are  familiar  with  turnover 
analyses  in  which  sizeable  lists  of  the  causes  of  discharge  and 
unemployment  are  to  be  found.  Jau  Don  Ball  gives  certain 
methods  of  examination  which  he  has  used,  in  his  own  phrase, 
"as  scientific  aids  to  industrial  efficiency."  It  would  be  equally 
true  to  say  that  Ball's  methods  and  those  of  others  engaged 
in  this  work  are  also  practical  aids  to  industrial  welfare.  Effi- 
ciency experts  and  welfare  workers  can  unite  in  this  mental 
hygiene  program.  Ball  gives  the  following  list  of  persons  that 
might  especially  come  under  examination,  queer  guys,  eccen- 
trics, disturbers,  querulous  persons,  unreliable  and  unstable  fel- 
lows, misfits,  the  irritable,  the  sullen,  socially  disgruntled,  unso- 
ciable, negative,  conscientious,  litigious,  bear-a-grudge,  peculiar, 
glad-harid,  gossipy,  roving,  restless,  malicious,  lying,  swindling, 
sex  pervert,  false  accusator,  abnormal  suggestibility  and  mental 
twist  types.  .  . 

Ball  described  the  analysis  of  certain  employees  in  a  firm 
where  two  months  after  Ball's  examination  a  strike  occurred. 
Ball  states  that  "in  the  case  of  every  employee  terminated  for 
the  group  examination  whether  discharge  or  voluntarily  leaving, 
the  prediction  of  a  possible  abnormal  conduct  or  a  dissatisfac- 
tion was  made  in  the  laboratory  report  and  recommendations  to 
the  employer."  And  further,  "according  to  the  records,  every- 
one of  the  strikers  had  something  wrong  with  them  from  a 
nervous  or  mental  standpoint  (nearly  all  having  a  psychopathic 
history)  ;  it  was  noted  that  with  three  exceptions  the  'strikers' 
cited  as  agitators  were  among  those  grading  the  highest  on 
the  intelligence  scale  used."  The  intelligence  scale  used  was  a 
selection  of  tests  made  by  Dr.  A.  W.  Stearns  during  his  naval 
work  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  as  examiner  of  recruits.  Stearns 
promises  early  publication  of  his  work,  of  which  an  advance 
account  was  given  at  a  meeting  of  the  National  Association  of 
Psychiatrists. 

Of  course  no  mental  hygienist,  least  of  all  Drs.  Ball  and 
Stearns,  would  assert  that  all  or  many  strikes  could  be  prevented 
by  advance  studies  of  workmen.  In  fact  Ball  specifically  says 
that  "it  could  not  be  concluded  from  this  or  any  other  examina- 
tion that  all  strikers,  whether  agitators  or  not,  are  psychopaths ; 
but  his  examination  does  show  that  the  agitators  in  this  group 
were  the  self-assertive  ones  and  the  ones  grading  the  highest 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  341 

in  intelligence,  the  others  simply  followed  the  leader.  Nobody 
needs  to  say  that  there  are  not  strikes  having  purely  economic 
causes.  Nobody  needs  to  say  that  there  are  not  strikes  and 
other  labor  troubles  due  to  mental  disease  or  character  defect 
either  in  the  employment  managers  and  minor  executives  or  in 
the  plant  owners  themselves.  Some  of  the  very  conditions 
which  make  for  self-assertiveness  and  success  of  a  sort  among 
labor  leaders  are  conditions  which  make  for  the  success  of 
financial  magnates  and  captains  of  industry.  Nobody  claims 
one  hundred  per  cent  efficiency  for  any  of  these  or  kindred 
proposals. 


REPORT  OF  THE  ENGINEERING  FOUNDATION1 

In  industry,  also,  therefore,  mental  hygiene  would  apply  to: 
first,  a  small  but  potentially  important  group  of  mentally  dis- 
eased employees;  second,  a  large  group  of  individuals  whose 
mental  character  is  such  as  to  require  special  consideration,  pos- 
sibly nearly  half  of  the  working  force;  third,  the  largest  group 
of  workers,  possibly  a  little  over  half,  who  have  no  appreciable 
mental  difficulties  and  whose  problem  is  chiefly  to  develop  their 
mental  ability.  The  practical  situation  divides  itself  into  three 
propositions  which  present  themselves  in  the  form  of  questions: 
(i)  Does  industrial  organization  call  for  attention  to  individual 
mental  characteristics?  (2)  Can  the  mental  sciences  give  prac- 
tical help  in  dealing  with  minds  in  every  day  action?  (3)  Is  it 
feasible  to  use  mental  science  in  industrial  organization?  There 
would  be  few  found  today  to  deny  the  first  question.  The 
second  has  been  answered  affirmatively  in  innumerable  instances 
and  places,  and  the  answer  can  readily  be  found  by  anyone 
who  can  take  time  to  gather  the  evidence.  Psychiatry  and 
psychology  have  already  advanced  far  enough  to  make  con- 
tributions to  mental  hygiene,  that  are  of  great  practical  value. 
Propositions  one  and  two  may  be  said  to  be  proved.  The  time 
has  come  to  work  upon  proposition  number  three. 

The   inquiry  into  this  subject  undertaken  by  Dr.    Southard 

!M.  C.  Jarrett.  Massachusetts  State  Psychiatric  Institute.  A  report 
of  work  done  in  collaboration  with  Dr.  E.  E.  Southard  in  an  investi- 
gation for  the  Engineering  Foundation.  Reprinted  from  The  National 
Conference  of  Social  Work.  1920.  p.  336-42. 


342  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

for  the  Engineering  Foundation  was  the  outcome  of  some  work 
begun  at  the  Psychopathic  Hospital  in  Boston  in  1914.  When  I 
went  there  to  develop  its  social  service  in  1913,  I  found  at  once 
that  many  of  our  patients  who  were  started  on  an  industrial 
decline  were  competent  and  even  excellent  workmen,  and  that 
with  a  little  assistance  in  adapting  themselves  to  their  employ- 
ment and  an  explanation  of  their  condition  to  their  employers, 
they  could  be  refitted  into  industry.  This  led  to  the  idea  that 
similar  methods  of  understanding  and  assistance  might  keep 
other  employees  from  falling  into  the  condition  of  hospital 
patients,  and  further  to  the  thought  that  mental  hygiene,  neces- 
sary for  the  psychopathic  employee,  would  also  be  beneficial  to 
all  persons  in  employment,  to  the  end  of  promoting  their  effi- 
ciency and  personal  satisfaction. 

There  was  no  lack  of  evidence,  in  my  visits  to  industrial 
plants,  that  psychopathic  employees  were  a  recognized  problem. 
Usually  the  cases  cited  were  among  the  best  workmen,  and  a 
problem  was  how  to  keep  them  at  work.  It  will  be  of  interest 
to  list  some  of  the  instances  that  were  told  to  me,  and  also  some 
of  the  opinions  expressed.  The  following  cases  are  selected  to 
mention : 

1.  Man  who  thought  he  could  not  do  his  job,  and  was  found 
to  be  worrying  about  the  headaches  of  his  wife,  also  an  em- 
ployee.    When  given  assurance  that  his  wife  would  be  trans- 
f erred  to  a  position  more  favorable  to  her  health,  he  made  good. 

2.  Girl  who  would  get  "fussed"  over  her  work  and  finally 
have  a  hysterical  fit — the  doctor  found  she  had  a  sex  obsession. 
She  was  a  good  worker.    She  is  now  considered  one  of  the  best 
workers  and  one  of  the  nicest  girls  in  the  plant. 

3.  Girl  who  could  concentrate  only  until  an  early  hour  of 
the  afternoon.     Every  few  weeks  she  would  get  wild  and  leave 
her  work,  saying  she  could  not  stand  it  another  moment.     Her 
problem  was  solved  by  putting  her  on  two  different  jobs  changing 
her  work  every  day  at  noon. 

4.  Man  who  ieels  "bum"  all  the  time  and  is  one  of  the  best 
workers. 

5.  Foreman  who  asked  to  have  his  wife  visited.     His  wife, 
he  said,  was  "nervous."     It  was   found   that   the  man  himself 
was  so  nervous  that  his  wife  thought  he  had  changed  very  much 
in  the  last  few  years.     She  said  that  he  cried  in  his  sleep  and 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  343 

that  he  complained  of  the  conditions  of  his  work  although  he 
was  absorbingly  interested  in  it.  He  is  a  strong,  healthy  looking 
man.  He  was  very  suspicious  of  direction  and  would  not 
accept  an  assistant  foreman.  The  failure  to  break  in  an  assistant 
would  mean  loss  to  the  company  if  this  man  should  become 
incapacitated. 

6.  Girl  with  hysteria,  cause  of  which  was  found  to  be  the 
serious  illness  of  an  intimate  girl  friend. 

7.  Case  of  traumatic  neurosis  in  which  permanent  paralysis 
resulted  after  a  useless  operation  upon  the  hand. 

8.  Man  with  back  curved  after  a  slight  accident,  from  which 
no  physical  injury  remains. 

9.  Man  who  occasionally  stops  work  to   sing  and  preach ; 
suddenly  stops,  and  with  a  laugh  goes  back  to  work. 

10.  Young  man  several  years  in  army  service  who  was  mute 
for  a  month  after  a  shell  explosion;  now  shows  hesitation  in 
speech  and  is  slow  in  manner.  Although  he  has  made  good  at 
machine  work,  he  feels  shaky.  He  thinks  he  feels  worse  and 
wants  to  be  transferred  to  office  work. 

n.  Man  who  had  "shell  shock"  in  the  army  who  seems 
peculiar  and  does  not  do  satisfactory  work. 

12.  Superintendent  who  has  no  use  for  women.    Carries  this 
to  such  an  extent  that  women  employees  cannot  consult  him. 

13.  Stenographer  who  is  a  fairly  competent  worker  but  seems 
dull  and  makes  mistakes.    Employment  manager  feels  that  there 
is  something  wrong  with  her. 

14.  Man  laid  off  in  slack  season  after  fifteen  years  of  em- 
ployment,  has   such  an   unfavorable   reputation   that   it  will  be 
hard  for  him  to  find  another  job.    Talks  continually,  is  suspicious, 
thinks  everybody  is  against  him,  and  has  given  some  reason  to 
question  his   honesty. 

15.  Over-busy  girl  who  is  a  fine  worker.     When  allowance 
for  her  peculiarities  was  made  she  proved  to  be  very  useful. 

16.  Man  who  prided  himself  upon  expert  knowledge  by  which 
he    could    revolutionize    industry.      He    wrote    various    letters 
denouncing  all  who  opposed  him.     Once  he  was  the  leader  of 
a  small  group  of  workmen. 

17.  Very  capable  "normal"  girl  who  made  unusual  mistakes 
in  her  typewriting  for  several  days  and  then  had  an  attack  of 
hysteria.     After  a  few  days  at  home  she  seemed  all  right. 


344  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

18.  Foreman,  a  high-strung  man,  in  whose  department  all  the 
employees  seem  tense  and  irritable. 

19.  Man  who  ran  up  and  down  the  shop  with  a  bucket  of 
molten    metal.      He   was   committed    to    a   hospital    for   mental 
diseases. 

20.  Morose,    surly    Italian   discharged    for    drawing   a    razor 
upon  a   fellow   employee.     This   man  had  a   record  of   having 
been  employed  by  the  same  firm  seven  times  within  three  years. 
The  reasons  for  leaving  were  as  follows:  refused  to  do  work; 
did  not  show  up ;  not  satisfied ;  dissatisfied ;  left  without  notice ; 
dissatisfied  with  earnings ;  discharged.     He  seems  to  have  done 
about  the  same  grade  of  work  throughout  and  not  to  have  shown 
mental  deterioration. 

21.  Colored   laborer   who   would   dress   up   once   or   twice  a 
month  on  Saturday  in  white  trousers,  frock  coat,  and  silk  hat 
and  walk  up  and  down  the  main  street  of  the  works.     On  that 
day  he  would  not  report  for  work,  but  otherwise  was  a  satis- 
factory employee. 

22.  Good   worker,    employed   for  twenty  years,  has   a  belief 
that  there  is  an  electric  current  in  his  body  pulling  him  from 
side  to  side.    Once  in  a  while  he  comes  to  the  superintendent  to 
talk    about    his    condition.      Apart    from    this    delusion    he    is 
"quite  normal."     He  gets  along  well  with  his  mates  and  has  not 
fallen   down  in  his  work. 

23.  Foreman    who   went    to    pieces    six    months    after   being 
promoted  from  the  bench.    He  became  excitable  and  was  irritable 
when  spoken  to  by  his  men  and  would  sit  and  cry  in  the  super- 
intendent's office.     After  two  weeks  of   such  behavior  he  was 
sent  away  for  several  weeks  and  seemed  all  right  on  his  return. 
When  put  at  his  former  work  he  was  quite  competent. 

*  *  * 

Some  of  the  opinions  expressed  in  regard  to  the  importance 
of  mental  factors  in  industrial  organizations: 

12.  An    employment    manager    said    he    would    like    to    have 
mental   hygiene    talks    for    his    foremen,    realizing   that    almost 
everyone  has   some  wrong  mental  processes  that   stand  in  the 
way  of  his  being  positively  constructive. 

13.  The    director    of    industrial    relations    department    in    an 
extensive  industry  said  that  employers  now  realize  that  temper- 
ament is  a  factor  in  industry,  and  are  aware  of  the  importance 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  345 

of  allowing  for  different  temperaments;  but  they  do  not  yet 
recognize  that  these  temperamental  differences  can  be  evaluated 
and  dealt  with  successfully  by  medical  experts.  It  will  be 
necessary  to  demonstrate  that  temperamental  peculiarities  are 
due  to  fairly  well  understood  mental  processes. 

14.  A  trade  unionist  thought  that  the  labor  leaders  are  be- 
ginning  to    realize   the   possibilities   of    a   combination   between 
science  and  industry.     He   thought  that  an   experiment  in  the 
application  of  psychiatry,  to  industry  would  do  more  than  any- 
thing else  to  convince  the  labor  unions  that  the  trend  in  industry 
is  already  toward  individualization  of  the  employee  and  that  if 
psychiatry  can  contribute  to  that,  it  will  be  doing  an  important 
service. 

15.  The  head  of  an  industrial  service  department  in  a  large 
plant  had  listed  as  part  of  his  program  for  the  coming  year  the 
education  of  department  heads  in  mental  hygiene.     He  said  he 
hoped  to  teach   them   to   recognize  and   deal  intelligently  with 
mental  deficiency  and  with  mental  disorder.  .  . 

In  the  future,  results  should  be  sought  through  practical 
measures  to  supply  in  particular  plants  proof  of  what  psy- 
chiatry has  to  contribute  to  personnel  problems.  Such  practical 
measures  are  the  mental  hygiene  working  party  to  survey  a 
plant,  the  consulting  psychiatrist,  and  the  psychiatric  social 
worker  connected  with  the  personnel  service.  Many  studies 
could  be  made  within  the  plants  for  the  purpose  of  indicating 
the  value  of  such  measures,  but  the  emphasis  should  be  upon 
an  actual  trial  on  a  large  scale  of  methods  already  proved  to  be 
of  value  in  individual  cases.  Application  of  what  is  already 
known  will  not  only  yield  immediate  practical  results,  but  will 
also  be  the  shortest  road  to  further  knowledge. 

The  difficulties  of  practical  application  may  loom  large.  One 
manufacturer  who  was  kind  enough  to  list  for  us  the  objections 
that  might  be  raised  by  industrialists  was  able  to  set  down 
seventeen  typewritten  pages  of  possible  objections.  They  can 
all  be  met  by  trial  but  probably  not  by  argument. 

The  objection  in  the  foreground  is  that  large  industrial  firms 
employing  thousands  cannot  give  attention  to  the  individual 
employee.  This  is  a  problem  of  organization  which  is  tersely 
put  by  Dr.  Otto  P.  Geier  when  he  says,  "While  it  is  advisable 
to  think  in  terms  of  the  mass,  it  is  even  more  important  to  act 
in  terms  of  the  individual."  Another  industrial  manager  facing 


346  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

the  difficulty  squarely  says,  "The  mistaken  idea  that  a  workshop 
becomes  so  large  that  it  is  impossible  to  deal  with  the  individual 
is  doing  tremendous  damage  today.  Does  a  firm  ever  get  so 
large  that  it  cannot  deal  individually  with  its  customers?  If  it 
is  possible  to  deal  and  make  individual  adjustments  with  cus- 
tomers, why  should  it  not  be  less  difficult  to  deal  with  the 
employee  individually?  Just  as  the  circumstances  surrounding 
the  purchase  of  the  customer  must  be  different,  so  are  the  cap- 
abilities, class  of  work,  personalities,  etc.,  of  the  individual 
worker  incapable  of  satisfactory  mass  adjustment." 

The  terminology  of  medical  science  is  a  minor  cause  of  pre- 
judice in  the  industrial  field.  But  workers  who  have  familiarized 
themselves  with  the  almost  unbelievable  names  attached  to  some 
of  the  machines  and  materials  used  in  manufacturing  industries 
will  not  hesitate  long  before  accepting  such  easily  acquired 
terms  as  "psychiatry,"  "paranoia,"  and  "cyclothymia."  Even 
"hypophrenia"  and  "pseudologia"  may  come  in  time  to  replace 
the  harsher  terms  of  "stupidity"  and  "lying!" 

The  fear  that  the  recognition  of  mental  disorder  will  dis- 
credit the  worker  may  act  as  a  deterrent  to  the  movement.  Big 
mental  diseases  cannot  be  concealed,  but  it  is  customary  to 
ignore  the  little  bits  of  mental  disorder  that  stand  to  mental 
disease  about  as  a  cold  in  the  head  stands  to  pneumonia.  Yet 
these  little  mental  troubles  often  impair  efficiency  and  happiness 
more  in  the  long  run  than  a  severe  attack  of  some  disorder. 
Most  of  us  would  rather  have  an  attack  of  pneumonia  than  a 
chronic  cold  in  the  head.  It  is  thought  that  the  worker  will 
be  alarmed  at  the  idea  of  attributing  his  difficulties  to  disease 
or  to  innate  weakness.  It  has  not  been  found  difficult  in  in- 
dividual cases  dealt  with  in  hospitals  to  reconcile  employees  to 
the  idea  that  their  difficulties  have  recognized  causes.  In  fact, 
as  a  rule  they  welcome  the  idea,  as  it  is  a  relief  to  them  to 
know  that  there  are  means  to  help.  In  one  plant  visited,  the 
head  of  the  medical  department  thought  of  beginning  a  mental 
hygiene  program  with  the  executive  force  where  turnover  was 
lower  and  intelligence  higher.  The  best  argument  with  the 
worker  of  the  value  of  mental  hygiene  methods  will  be  the 
increased  satisfaction  of  individual  employees  who  take  advan- 
tage of  them.  In  relation  to  one  mental  disorder,  feebleminded- 
ness, it  has  been  proved  and  generally  accepted  that  the 
worker  profits  by  recognition  of  his  mental  condition.  Individual 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  347 

consideration  for  the  feebleminded  has  led  to  better  realization 
of  their  productive  capacity  and  has  tended  to  increase  the  pro- 
ductivity of  this  class. 

Gradually  all  points  of  view  from  which  industry  is  studied — 
economics,  medicine,  engineering,  labor,  capital — are  coming  to 
a  focus  upon  the  basic  fact  that  production  rests  upon  the  mind. 
Mental  power  is  the  greatest  force  in  the  world,  and  it  is  still 
to  be  studied  from  the  standpoint  of  industrial  production.  The 
beginning  made  by  the  Engineering  Foundation  is  full  of 
promise. 


DEFICIENCIES    OF    CHARACTER    AMONG 
EMPLOYEES  * 

The  most  striking  feature  of  the  problem  of  the  psychopathic 
employee  is  the  general  ignorance  of  its  existence.  When  an 
effort  was  being  made  by  the  Social  Service  of  the  Psychopathic 
Hospital  to  secure  private  support  for  a  study  of  this  subject, 
some  fifteen  employers  who  were  visited  almost  without  excep- 
tion stated  confidently  that  they  had  no  such  persons  as  our 
patients  in  their  employ.  While  they  expressed  interest  in  the 
project  as  a  good  cause  in  helping  such  unfortunate  persons  to 
be  self-supporting,  they  could  not  see  that  the  subject  had 
anything  to  do  with  their  business.  If  a  person  suffered  from 
mental  disease,  he  seemed  to  them  an  object  of  benevolence. 
One  employer  who  was  interested  enough  to  make  a  contribution 
of  money,  begged  that  his  firm  should  not  be  asked  to  employ 
our  patients.  Shortly  after,  the  employment  manager  of  this 
firm  hired  a  man  who  was  described  to  him  as  having  had  an 
attack  of  confusion  and  excitement,  during  which  he  prayed 
aloud  on  the  street  and  was  brought  to  our  hospital  where  his 
mind  had  become  entirely  clear.  He  was  engaged  to  do  work 
for  which  he  had  references  of  proficiency.  This  incident  is  a 
crude  sketch  of  the  present  situation,  the  employment  managers 
and  foremen  adapting  themselves  in  a  rough  and  ready  fashion 
to  conditions  as  they  find  them,  and  attributing  symptoms  of 
mental  disorder  to  "a  difference  of  temperament,"  as  one  fore- 
man put  it;  while  the  members  of  the  firm  and  the  executive 

»M.  C.  Jarrett.  The  Psychopathic  Employee:  A  Problem  of  Industry. 
Medicine  and  Surgery.  September,  1917.  P-  727- 


348  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

force    are    unaware    that    there    is    any   mental    disease    in    the 
shop.  .  . 

In  the  Final  Report  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Rela- 
tions, under  causes  of  unemployment,  among  "conditions  deter- 
mining the  worker's  ability  to  grasp  or  retain  the  opportunity 
to  be  employed  which  industry  offers,"  are  cited  "those  personal 
factors,  such  as  dishonesty,  laziness,  intemperance,  irregularity, 
shiftlessness,  and  stupidity,  which  are  commonly  included  under 
the  term  'deficiencies  of  character'."  That  these  characteristics 
are  to  a  considerable  extent  symptoms  of  mental  defect  and 
mental  disorder  cannot  be  doubted. 

Among  the  reasons  for  discharge  that  appear  on  the  record 
cards  of  one  firm  in  Boston  are  the  following:  causing  trouble 
about  the  work;  not  steady;  incompetent;  tardiness;  slackness; 
poor  attendance  and  indolence;  drinking  to  excess;  fainting 
spells ;  troublesome ;  not  wholly  reliable  as  a  man,  but  a  good 
fireman;  constant  disagreement  with  foreman;  quarrelsome; 
assault.  A  conference  with  several  of  the  foremen  of  this  firm 
recently  brought  out  the  pains  that  they  take  to  deal  with  the 
peculiarities  of  the  employees  under  them.  The  superintendent 
asked  one  of  the  foremen  if  he  would  have  had  the  patience  to 
keep  a  certain  quarrelsome  man  if  he  had  known  that  he  was 
a  patient  from  the  Psychopathic  Hospital.  He  replied,  "My 
patience  works  the  other  way.  I  want  to  give  every  man  a 
chance.  And  he  does  his  work  all  right."  This  man  had  just 
received  a  raise  in  pay.  He  is  a  case  of  general  paresis,  a 
man  who  had  been  a  street  car  conductor.  His  foreman  said 
that  he  and  the  other  men  in  the  shop  explained  the  patient's 
peculiarities  on  the  supposition  that  he  took  "dope,"  because 
on  some  days  he  was  more  excitable  than  at  other  times. 
Another  employee  was  described  as  having  "a  temper  like  a 
meat-axe,  but  when  he's  calm  he's  one  of  the  best  workers  I've 
got.  I  never  saw  a  fellow  get  as  angry  as  he  does — you  couldn't 
hold  him  with  a  chain."  These  two  instances  illustrate  the 
adjustment  the  foreman  may  be  able  to  make  without  special 
instruction,  but  another  case  that  was  told  indicates  the  possi- 
bility of  failure.  This  man  also  did  his  work  well,  but  "he 
thought  everybody  was  talking  about  him,  and  we  were  afraid 
we  wouldn't  get  rid  of  him  before  he  had  done  some  harm." 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  349 

One    wonders    what    happened    in    the    next    shop    where    he 
worked.  .  . 

There  are  some  evident  conclusions  that  stand  out  in  our 
experience.  In  most  of  these  cases  inebriety  is  a  prominent 
factor,  since  the  habit  of  alcoholism  is  an  easy  channel  for  these 
unstable  temperaments.  Alcoholism  in  these  cases  may  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  symptoms  of  a  psychopathic  constitution. 
Its  effect  in  turn  is  to  exaggerate  the  original  defect.  With- 
drawal of  alcohol  increases  the  patient's  chances  of  social  ad- 
justment, but  alcohol  is  by  no  means  the  only  stumbling  block. 
Family  discord  is  a  large  factor  both  as  cause  and  effect;  and 
in  treatment  the  cooperation  and  intelligent  understanding  of 
the  family  are  essential.  Economically  it  is  a  distinct  gain  if  a 
psychopathic  patient  who  was  in  process  of  industrial  decline 
can  be  self-supporting  and  competent  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  time,  even  if  he  has  an  occasional  attack.  One  of  our 
patients  employed  as  an  expert  chemist  was  about  to  be  dis- 
charged three  and  a  half  years  ago  as  hopeless  after  an  alcoholic 
attack  of  psychopathic  nature ;  but  when  the  man's  condition 
was  explained  to  the  firm,  they  gladly  retained  him,  saying  that 
they  could  afford  to  allow  him  occasional  leave  of  absence,  if 
necessary,  for  the  special  value  of  his  work.  He  was  in  the 
hospital  again  once  six  months  later,  but  for  the  last  three 
years  has  worked  steadily.  This  case  illustrates  both  the  eco- 
nomic value  to  society  of  keeping  competent  but  psychopathic 
individuals  employed,  and  also  the  possible  value  to  industry. 
A  firm  that  discharged  one  of  their  best  salesmen  after  an 
attack  of  maniac-depressive  insanity  lost  an  asset.  The  patient 
has  not  had  another  attack  since,  now  four  years,  and  has  been 
competent  in  every  way.  He  was  safer  for  the  firm  than  ever 
before  in  the  six  years  they  had  employed  him;  for,  instructed 
in  the  nature  of  his  disease,  they  could  have  gotten  him  to  the 
hospital  at  the  earliest  signs  of  an  attack,  and  by  early  treatment 
possibly  could  have  decreased  the  duration  of  the  attack.  In 
general  we  find  employers  quite  willing  to  employ  patients  whose 
mental  condition  and  industrial  efficiency  are  frankly  described, 
and  to  retain  them  as  long  as  they  are  able  to  do  the  work. 
Understood  by  their  employers,  and  taught  to  understand  them- 
selves, psychopathic  individuals  who  would  otherwise  be  thrown 
out  of  industry,  may  keep  their  places  as  efficient  employees. 


350  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

A    REASONABLE    APPLICATION    OF    PSYCHI- 
ATRY TO  INDUSTRY1 

A  lucid  statement  as  to  what  seems  to  be  a  reasonable 
application  of  psychiatry  to  industrial  hygiene  under  the  present 
limited  understanding  of  this  branch  of  medicine,  combined  with 
the  limitations  imposed  upon  its  practice  by  industrial  conditions, 
is  presented  by  Dr.  Stanley  Cobb,  neuropsychiatrist  in  indus- 
trial hygiene  of  the  Harvard  Medical  School,  in  the  Journal 
of  Industrial  Hygiene. 

Dr.  Cobb  believes  that  much  of  the  chaos  in  industry  today 
is  due  to  the  unhealthy  mental  condition  of  the  workers,  and 
that  this  unhealthy  condition  is  only  the  natural  consequence  of 
long  endurance  of  an  environment  which  ignores  the  funda- 
mental needs  of  human  nature  and  thus  represses  normal  emo- 
tional and  mental  expression.  He  considers  it  no  exaggeration 
to  agree  with  Carleton  Parker  in  saying  that  "Modern  labor 
unrest  has  a  basis  more  psychopathological  than  psychological, 
and  it  seems  accurate  to  describe  modern  industry  as  mentally 
insanitary." 

Stated  in  non-technical  language^  the  practical  usefulness  of 
industrial  psychiatry  lies  in  the  study  of  the  individual  worker 
and  his  environment.!.  .  A  hypothetical  case  is  cited  of  what  is 
commonly  known  as  "nervous  breakdown"  in  a  department  store 
employee,  which  might  have  been  prevented  by  a  half  hour 
interview  of  an  intelligent  psychiatrist  leading  to  a  little  material 
assistance  and  a  simple  readjustment  of  the  woman's  personal 
problem.  Such  cases,  variously  called  "neurasthenia,"  "psychas- 
thenia,"  and  "psychoneurosis"  are  common  in  wards  and  dis- 
pensaries, it  is  stated,  where  the  doctors  do  little  for  them,  the 
need  being  for  an  investigation  and  readjustment  of  the  patients' 
personal  problems.  These  conditions  and  need  for  this  kind 
of  treatment  are  found  not  only  among  people  positively  ill, 
but  among  the  restless,  inefficient,  and  the  radical  elements  of 
society.  "A  striking  number  of  the  histories  (Army  cases) 
showed  that  in  civil  life  these  men  drifted  from  one  employment 
to  another,  never  breaking  down  enough  to  consult  a  physician, 

1  Abstract  printed  in  Monthly  Labor  Review.  Vol  10.  1920.  p.  226-9. 
From  original  article  by  Dr.  Cobb  in  Journal  of  Industrial  Hygiene.  No 
vember,  1919.  P-  343-7- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  351 

but  adding  their  number  to  the  shifting,  inefficient  labor  element 
so  costly  to  employers.  It  took  the  rigor  of  army  life,  with  no 
possibility  of  escape  by  moving  on,  to  bring  out  their  symptoms. 
Before  these  people  have  left  their  work  or  have  been  fired  for 
inefficiency,  they  should  be  interviewed  by  someone  competent  to 
understand  them  and  their  personal  troubles.  At  such  times, 
advice  from  a  physician,  the  loan  of  some  money,  a  visit  to  a 
sick  child  or  wife,  or  any  of  the  thousand  possible  personal  and 
individual  aids,  might  save  the  worker  from  becoming  soured, 
keep  him  from  joining  the  ranks  of  the  discontented,  and  prevent 
the  development  of  a  litigant  and  paranoid  personality.  .  ." 

When  the  instincts  for  self-assertion,  creation,  and  excite- 
ment are  suppressed  through  the  workings  of  the  present  indus- 
trial system  the  result  is  an  abnormal  frame  of  mind  which  is 
evidenced  in  striking,  drinking,  etc.,  unless  some  outlet  for  the 
workers'  energies  is  provided.  This  whole  field  is  so  large, 
however,  that  Dr.  Cobb  believes  the  average  industrial  physician 
will  be  satisfied  to  watch  for  and  treat  sympathetically  the 
psychotic  symptoms  as  they  appear  in  individuals. 

In  regard  to  the  claims  made  as  to  the  value  of  mental  tests 
of  applicants  for  industrial  positions,  he  believes  that  they  are 
some  use  from  the  point  of  view  mainly  of  determining  sub- 
normal individuals,  although  they  are  of  service  in  reducing 
misfits  in  shops — a  condition  conducive  to  mental  breakdowns. 

While  mental  fatigue  has  received  much  attention  from 
psychiatrists,  Dr.  Cobb  thinks  that  overwork  is  not  the  funda- 
mental cause  of  neuroses  or  psychoneuroses,  but  that  these  are 
fundamentally  emotional  breakdowns.  Although  the  symptoms 
are  similar  to  those  of  neuromuscular  fatigue,  this  is  cured  by 
simple  rest,  which  is  not  the  case  in  the  nervous  diseases  under 
discussion. 

"Work  that  represses  emotional  cravings  often  brings  out 
neuroses,  just  as  satisfactory  work  is  the  greatest  curative 
agent  we  have  for  these  conditions.  Let  us  no  longer  fool 
ourselves  into  thinking  that  overwork,  per  se,  is  the  cause  of 
mental  breakdown." 

y'The  problems  of  industrial  psychiatry,  therefore,  summed  up 
briefly  are:  Prevention  of  mental  breakdowns  by  giving  the 
worker  the  proper  environment  and  removing  causes  of  dis- 
content, and  treating  such  cases  from  an  individual  standpoint, 
as  well  as  considering  as  psychiatric  cases  those  persons  who, 


352  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

until   recently,   have  been  given   such   unsympathetic  names   as 
"the  groucher,"  "the  kicker,"  "the  troublemaker,"  and  "the  hobo." 
A    reasonable   application    of   psychiatry   to   industry   under 
present  conditions  would  seem  to  be  as  follows: 

1.  Physical  examination  of  all  applicants  for  work. 

2.  Mental    examination    by    (a)    a   period    of    training   and 
observation,  or    (b)    thorough  mental  tests. 

3.  Keeping  in  personal  touch  with  employees  by  means  of 
(a)    good  foremen,    (b)   a  system  for  watching  individual  effi- 
ciency, or    (c)   a   sympathetic  staff  with  a  psychiatric  point  of 
view  in  the  employment  management  office,  thus  salvaging  the 
men  who  might  otherwise  be  fired. 

4.  Training  the  industrial  physicians  to  a  knowledge  of  how 
human  nature  is  constituted,  not  in  conventional  terms,  but  in  the 
light   of   a   dynamic   and   living   psychology  that   considers   the 
behavior  of   human  beings   in  terms   of   instinctive   sources   of 
energy,   integrated   into   motives,   these   motives   needing   outlet 
through   energy   transformation   into    satisfactory  activity. 


UNDERSTANDING  INDUSTRIAL  MISFITS  J 

It  seems  clear,  therefore,  that  the  only  possible  way  to  attack 
this  problem  is  by  ...  the  psychiatric  method.  ^This  method 
presupposes  that  human  conduct,  like  conduct  or  behavior 
observed  anywhere  in  the  organic  world,  is  dependent  upon 
fundamental  reactions.  These  reactions  may  be  combined  into 
complex  forms  which  may  baffle  analysis.  Above  all,  one  should 
note  that  the  fundamental  concept  of  organic  activity  requires 
the  participation  of  at  least  two  forces  more  or  less  directly 
opposed.  This  opposition  of  forces  is  continuous  or  intermittent, 
and,  in  perfect  repose,  is  in  equilibrium.  .  .  The  emotions  are 
associated  with  the  conscious  mind,  but  also  more  fundamentally 
with  other  functions  of  the  body,  so  that  an  emotion  may  be 
evoked  by  other  than  psychic  disturbance.  The  mental  content 
will  be  correctly  associated  with  this,  except  in  complete 
dementia.  Ordinarily,  emotional  impulses  are  well  correlated 
with  conscious  mental  processes,  so  that  on  the  receipt  of 
unpleasant  news  and  in  the  face  of  a  pleasant  experience  the 

1  Herman  P.  Adler.  Unemployment  and  Personality.  Mental  Hygiene. 
January,  1917.  P.  16-24. 


BUSINESS    EXECUTIVES  353 

corresponding  emotions  are  experienced.  On  the  other  hand, 
emotional  impulses  may  arise  from  causes  outside  of  the  mind, 
outside  even  of  the  subconscious  mind  in  the  meaning  of  the 
psychoanalytical  school.  Thus,  for  instance,  one  may  wake  up 
in  the  morning  feeling  depressed.  This  may  be  due  to  purely 
physical  causes  and  need  not  be  necessarily  due  to  supposed 
complexes,  as  Sigmund  Freud  maintains.  The  work  of  Dr. 
Cannon  at  the  Harvard  Medical  School  on  the  role  of  the 
ductless  glands  in  pain,  hunger,  fear  and  rage  has  shown  at 
least  one  way  in  which  this  may  occur.  When  such  an  emotional 
impulse  is  aroused,  the  whole  human  being  resists  it.  He  tries 
to  free  himself  from  it  as  soon  as  possible,  and  does  so  by  many 
devices,  such  as  following  his  routine  occupations,  interesting 
himself  in  his  work,  seeking  distraction  by  conversation  with 
interesting,  stimulating  persons ;  but,  whatever  he  may  do  to 
relieve  the  emotional  tension,  he  does  not  allow  it  to  affect  his 
conduct  in  any  serious  way.  His  inhibition,  his  judgment,  what- 
ever it  is  that  he  uses,  is  sufficient  to  oppose  these  tendencies 
up  to  a  certain  point.  There  is,  however,  a  threshold  above 
which  he  can  no  longer  inhibit.  If  the  stimulus  is  strong 
enough,  therefore,  the  individual  would  not  be  able  to  resist. 
Just  where  this  threshold  or  this  breaking  strain  lies  has  to  be 
determined  in  each  individual. 

Normal  individuals  show  a  certain  range  of  variation  in  this 
respect.  In  fact,  a  single  individual  may  at  different  times  show 
a  variation,  but  ordinarily  these  variations  are  within  compar- 
atively narrow  limits,  so  narrow  that  it  has  been  possible  to 
construct  a  huge  code  of  laws  which  without  great  injustice  fits 
practically  all  the  normal  members  of  the  community.  When  this 
threshold  varies,  however,  beyond  these  limits,  then  conduct 
results  which  is  sufficiently  outside  of  the  normal  limits  to  call 
for  attention.  It  is  very  important,  however,  to  realize  that 
such  variations,  while  they  may  be  fundamental,  congenital,  and 
even  more  or  less  fixed,  are  not  absolutely  fixed  and  permanent. 
Were  this  so,  the  problem  of  dealing  with  the  deviates  would  be 
greatly  simplified.  Then  it  would  be  merely  a  matter  of  rounding 
them  up  and  either  executing  them  or  at  least  segregating  them. 
\  The  difficulty  in  the  management  of  delinquency  is  caused  chiefly 
by  the  fact  that  individuals  vary  somewhat  in  their  ability  to 
fit  into  the  existing  community  and  that,  therefore,  an  appearance 
is  created  that  their  misdeeds  are  intentional,  and  that  the  best 


354  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

remedy  is  to  teach  them  the  stern  lessons  of  reality  by  making 
them  suffer  for  their  acts. 

This  method  has  failed  all  along  the  line,  and  nowhere  more 
than  in  the  treatment  of  unemployment.  .  . 
V  As  a  first  step,  therefore,  in  determining  what  could  be  done 
in  the  way  of  corrective  education,  it  is  necessary  to  determine 
the  exact  nature  of  the  individual  in  question  in  regard  to  his 
ability  to  learn.  |To  do  this  we  have  analyzed  one  hundred  cases 
in  such  a  way  as  to  group  all  the  patients  under  three  headings. 
The  headings  indicate  in  a  very  schematic  way  our  opinion  as 
to  their  character  or  personality.  The  first  of  the  three  classi- 
fications is  the  paranoid  personality.  Under  this  heading  are 
grouped  all  individuals  who  have  shown  by  their  conduct  that 
their  reaction  to  the  world  is  entirely  egocentric.  No  matter 
what  they  experience,  no  matter  what  they  desire,  their  own  ego 
is  in  the  centre  of  the  plot  and  dominates  everything.  This 
may  be  associated  with  a  variety  of  emotional  reactions  so  that 
the  resulting  picture  is  a  varied  one.  It  included  individuals 
who  are  convinced  of  their  own  ability.  They  are  always  ready 
to  undertake  new  schemes,  they  are  usually  working  for  the 
betterment  of  the  rest  of  the  world  and  claim  all  sorts  of 
altruistic  motives,  and  even  may  be  altruistic  to  some  extent, 
seeking  merely  the  satisfaction  of  being  in  the  limelight.  Or 
the  emotion  may  be  a  depressed  one  and  the  individuals  are 
contentious,  surly,  suspicious,  claim  abuse,  ill-treatment,  recog- 
nize no  kindness  that  is  done  them,  appreciate  no  favors,  etc. 
This  by  far  the  largest  group  in  our  table,  comprising  forty- 
three  cases,  or  almost  half. 

The  next  largest  group,  which  we  call  inadequate  personality, 
comprises  cases  which  show  evidence  in  their  conduct  of  a  lack 
of  judgment,  a  lack  of  intelligence.  Under  this  heading  are 
placed  all  cases  which  have  been  shown  by  the  psychological 
tests  to  be  defective  or  feeble-minded,  or  those  suffering  from 
a  deteriorating  disease  other  than  maniac-depressive  insanity 
or  the  paranoid  psychoses. 

Finally,  we  have  a  third  group,  which  we  called  the  emotion- 
ally unstable  group.  Under  this  heading  we  have  included  all 
the  cases  that  show  sufficient  mental  ability  and  judgment  to 
satisfy  the  ordinary  demands  of  life  and  who  have  no  marked 
tendency  to  the  egocentric  attitude  or  to  enlarge  upon  their  own 
significance,  accomplishments,  or  the  jealousies  of  others.  These 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  355 

include  individuals  who  show  excessive  emotional  reactions,  who 
at  times  are  buoyant  beyond  all  reason,  and  while  in  this 
condition  show  considerable  psychomotor  activity.  Their  minds 
are  very  active,  they  have  many  new  ideas,  they  have  a  marvelous 
imagination,  they  undertake  a  dozen  different  obligations,  none 
of  which  they  can  carry  out.  They  tire  of  one  thing  before  it 
is  half  begun  and  go  rapidly  to  another.  In  another  mood,  the 
equivalent  of  a  depression,  the  more  pronounced  cases  may  show 
a  slowing  up  of  the  mental  activity,  an  interference  with  thought, 
a  lack  of  initiative,  a  tendency  to  be  unhappy,  a  brooding 
disposition.  This  group  of  individuals  also  often  exhibit  violent 
outbursts  of  temper.  They  are  extremely  irascible,  usually  on 
account  of  some  external  provocation.  The  latter  may  be  very 
slight.  The  reaction,  however,  is  always  extremely  violent. 
Impulsiveness,  amounting  often  to  obsession,  is  frequently  found 
in  these  cases.  Throughout  these  changes,  whether  they  are 
hypomaniacal  or  depressed,  they  assume  an  attitude  toward  the 
rest  of  the  community  which  is  that  of  more  or  less  self-efface- 
ment and  modesty.  The  normal  individual  reacts  to  another  in 
a  friendly  fashion  if  he  considers  him  modest.  Every  politician 
knows  this  and  uses  little  tricks  in  order  to  show  how  unassum- 
ing and  democratic  he  is.  Universally  detested,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  the  person  who  appears  to  be  conceited  and  arrogant, 
who  has  an  idea  of  self-importance.  A  behavioristic  distinction 
may  roughly  be  applied  to  these  cases:  that  the  paranoid  per- 
sonality is  one  with  which  we  may  sympathize,  but  dislike;  the 
emotionally  unstable  individual,  on  the  other  hand,  is  one  that 
may  be  extremely  annoying  to  have  about,  that  causes  untold 
trouble,  not  to  say  misery,  and  yet  that  is  very  likable. 

With  this  in  mind,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  emotionally 
unstable  group  contains  only  twenty-two  cases.  The  inadequate 
group,  on  the  other  hand,  contains  thirty-five  cases.  The  inad- 
equate and  paranoid  together,  therefore,  form  78  per  cent  of  the 
cases  studied.  It  is  not  likely  that  these  figures  represent  the 
conditions  in  the  community  at  large,  possibly  for  the  reason 
that  in  the  first  place  an  emotionally  unstable  individual  in  the 
hypomaniacal  condition  is  a  very  useful  citizen  and  is  not  likely 
to  get  into  difficulties  unless  his  trouble  becomes  more  intense. 
Also,  on  account  of  the  fact  that  these  people  are  all  very 
popular,  their  friends  and  acquaintances  will  gather  about  them 
in  times  of  need  and  will  by  united  efforts  keep  them  "on  the 


356  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

job."  With  the  paranoid  individual  this  is  not  so.  The  paranoid 
individual  gets  into  difficulties  and  one  is  glad  to  get  rid  of 
him,  if  possible.  Where  his  abilities  are  such  that  the  employers 
do  not  like  to  let  him  go,  the  other  employees  sooner  or  later 
will  force  them  to  dismiss  him.  Furthermore,  the  paranoid 
individual  will  throw  up  his  job  on  his  own  accord  where  there 
seems  no  adequate  reason  for  the  step. 

It  is  interesting  to  consider  the  reasons  for  the  unemployment 
in  our  cases.  The  patient  was  asked  to  state  his  reason  for 
leaving  and  then  the  employer,  wherever  possible,  was  seen 
and  his  statement  was  taken.  While  these  data  have  not 
yet  been  completely  analyzed,  the  following  points  have  been 
made.  It  seems  that  with  the  paranoid  individuals  the  reasons 
stated  by  the  patient  are  identical  with  those  of  the  employer 
forty-four  times  out  of  one  hundred  thirty-four  cases,  or 
thirty-three  per  cent.  In  the  cases  grouped  under  the  heading 
inadequate  the  patient's  and  employer's  accounts  agree  twenty- 
nine  times  out  of  ninety-five  cases  or  thirty-one  per  cent.  In 
the  emotionally  unstable  group  the  patient's  and  employer's  rea- 
sons are  the  same  eighteen  times  out  of  forty-nine,  or  thirty- 
seven  per  cent — a  percentage  slightly  higher  than  in  the  previous 
groups.  .  . 

The  only  conclusions  that  we  may  allow  ourselves  at  present 
on  the  basis  of  this  material  are  as  follows: 

1.  There  are  individuals  in  the  community  who  for  a  variety 
of  reasons  are  not  able  to  regulate  their  conduct  on  the  basis  of 
experience.     One   of    the    difficulties    that   such   individuals   get 
into  is  unemployment.    The  result  of  their  unemployment  brings 
hardships  on  themselves  and  on  their  dependents. 

2.  While  some  of  these  individuals  show  defects  of  such  a 
severe  nature  that  they  may  be  regarded  as  hopeless  and,  there- 
fore, can  be  segregated,  there  are  others  in  whom  the  deviation 
from   the  normal   is  not   sufficient  to   make  them  incapable  of 
supporting  themselves  at  all  times  and  it  is  unwise  to  segregate 
them  and  prohibitively  expensive. 

3.  From  our  analysis  it  appears  that  there  are  two  types  of 
individuals  that  experience  these  difficulties.     One  type,  which 
is  grouped  under  the  headings  of  inadequate  and  paranoid,  is 
afflicted  with  certain  characteristics  of  personality  which  are  not 
amenable  to  treatment.     To  maintain  these  people  in  the  com- 
munity it  is   necessary  to   modify  the   environment    so   far   as 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  357 

possible  in  order  to  prevent,  in  the  first  place,  the  calling  out 
of  their  peculiar  reactions  and,  furthermore,  to  prevent  their 
suffering  the  results  of  their  acts;  in  other  words,  to  keep  a 
man  "on  the  job"  in  spite  of  his  personal  unpopularity  or 
inadequacy.  The  other  type,  grouped  under  the  heading  of 
emotionally  unstable,  suffers  from  the  results  of  temperament. 
These  individuals  are  subject  to  variation  of  tempera- 
ment and  the  treatment  of  their  unemployment  must  be  guided 
by  a  knowledge  of  their  tendencies  so  that  environment  on  the 
one  hand  can  be  suitably  influenced  or  chosen  for  them,  and 
that  the  individuals  themselves  may  be  trained  to  counteract 
their  impulses  to  some  extent. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL   PHASES   OF   INDUSTRIAL 
MISBEHAVIOR  x 

Among  the  great  primary  instincts  which  provide  the  opposing 
forces  responsible  for  mental  conflict  a  dominant  place  must  be 
assigned  to  "herd  instinct."  It  has  been  explained  in  Chapter  X. 
that  a  vast  part  of  the  beliefs  and  conduct  of  man  is  due  to  the 
operation  of  this  instinct.  From  it  the  tendencies  generally 
ascribed  to  tradition  and  to  education  derive  most  of  their 
power.  It  provides  the  mechanism  by  which  the  ethical  code 
belonging  to  a  particular  class  is  enforced  upon  each  individual 
member  of  that  class,  so  that  the  latter  is  instinctively  impelled 
to  think  and  to  act  in  the  manner  which  the  code  prescribes. 
That  is  to  say,  a  line  of  conduct  upon  which  the  herd  has  set 
its  sanction  acquires  all  the  characters  of  an  instinctive  action, 
although  this  line  of  conduct  may  have  no  rational  basis,  may 
run  counter  to  the  dictates  of  experience,  and  may  be  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  tendencies  generated  by  the  other  primary 
instincts.  This  opposition  to  other  primary  instincts  is  well 
exemplified  in  the  case  of  sex,  where  the  impulses  due  to  the 
latter  are  constantly  balked  and  controlled  by  the  opposing 
tendencies  arising  from  the  moral  education  and  tradition. 

It  will  be  immediately  obvious  that  in  these  struggles  between 
the  primary  instincts  and  the  beliefs  and  codes  enforced  by  the 
operation  of  herd  instinct  we  have  a  fertile  field  for  the  develop- 
ment of  mental  conflict.  The  factors  involved  each  possess  an 

1  Bernard  Hart.  The  Psychology  of  Insanity,  p.  90-2.  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons.  New  York,  and  Londort.  1914. 


358  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

enormous  emotional  force,  and  we  should,  therefore,  expect  that 
their  opposition  would  produce  a  plentiful  crop  of  the  abnormal 
mental  phenomena  described  in  the  preceding  chapters  of  this 
book.  Trotter,  who  has  fully  developed  the  subject  in  the  papers 
to  which  we  have  already  frequently  referred,  has  pointed  out 
the  immense  significance  which  the  conflict  between  primitive 
instinct  and  herd  tradition  possesses  for  the  human  mind.  He 
remarks  that  the  manifestations  of  mental  disintegration  thereby 
produced  "are  coming  to  be  recognized  over  a  larger  and  larger 
field,  and  in  a  great  variety  of  phenomena.  .  .  This  field  includes 
a  part  of  insanity,  how  much  we  cannot  even  guess,  but  certainly 
a  very  large  part;  it  includes  the  group  of  conditions  described 
as  functional  diseases  of  the  nervous  system,  and,  finally,  it 
includes  that  vast  group  of  the  mentally  unstable  which,  while 
difficult  to  define  without  detailed  consideration,  is  sufficiently 
precise  in  the  knowledge  of  all  to  be  recognizable  as  extremely 
large." 

In  the  last  chapter  we  have  described  several  cases  in  which 
the  outbreak  of  insanity  depended  upon  the  existence  of  a 
conflict  between  the  dominating  complexes  of  the  mind  and  the 
circumstances  in  which  the  individual  was  compelled  to  live. 
It  was  shown  that  the  abnormal  phenomena  finally  produced 
could  be  regarded  as  biological  reactions  whose  purpose  was  to 
provide  a  way  of  escape  from  the  strain  of  this  intolerable 
struggle.  The  individual  found  a  refuge  in  dissociation,  and 
retired  into  an  imaginary  world  where  the  complexes  attained  a 
delusional  fulfillment,  while  all  the  mental  processes  incompatible 
with  this  imaginary  world  were  shut  out  of  the  field  of  con- 
sciousness. Now  in  cases  of  this  type  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  among  the  processes  thus  excluded  from  effectual  partici- 
pation in  consciousness  are  to  be  found  almost  all  the  tendencies 
due  to  the  operation  of  herd  instinct.  The  patients  have  lost 
the  gregarious  attributes  of  the  normal  man,  and  the  sanctions 
of  traditional  conduct  have  no  longer  any  significance  for  them. 
In  the  milder  cases  this  change  shows  itself  merely  as  a  loss 
of  interest  in  the  affairs  of  their  fellows,  a  tendency  to  be 
solitary  and  unsociable,  an  atrophy  of  their  affections  for 
friends  and  relatives,  and  an  indifference  to  the  ordinary  con- 
ventions of  society.  In  the  advanced  cases  the  change  is  much 
more  marked,  and  the  mind  is  completely  withdrawn  from 
participation  in  the  life  of  the  herd.  The  code  of  conduct 


BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES  359 

imposed  by  convention  and  traditions  no  longer  regulates  the 
patient's  behaviour,  and  he  becomes  slovenly,  filthy,  degraded, 
and  shameless.  In  this  picture,  to  which  so  many  chronic 
lunatics  conform,  may  be  recognized  the  absolute  negation  of 
herd  instinct  and  of  the  vast  group  of  mental  activities  which 
arise  therefrom. 


MENTAL  CONFLICTS  AND  MISCONDUCT1 

The  term  mental  conflict  represents  an  idea  that  is  not 
at  all  difficult  to  understand.  Few  would  question  the  existence 
of  such  a  phenomenon.  Technical  discussion  hardly  makes  the 
concept  any  stronger,  and,  yet,  perhaps  some  attempt  at  definition 
is  desirable  in  order  that  there  may  be  no  misunderstanding 
whatever  about  what  is  meant.  A  mental  conflict,  then,  is  a 
conflict  between  elements  of  mental  life,  and  occurs  when  two 
elements,  or  systems  of  elements,  are  out  of  harmony  with  each 
other.  This  is  the  barest  possible  statement.  Why  do  mental 
elements  in  the  same  individual  become  conflicting?  This  ques- 
tion leads  us,  in  turn,  to  consider  other  mental  mechanisms. 

Memories  or  ideational  elements  forming  the  content  of  our 
mental  storehouses  are  largely  constellated ;  on  account  of  the 
activity  of  various  laws  of  association  mental  elements  are  so 
related  to  each  other  that  there  is  a  bond  between  them.  The 
particular  form  of  a  constellation  is  the  result  of  the  special 
grouping  or  linking  together  of  perceptive  experiences  or  of 
their  reproductions  as  they  arise  in  the  mind.  A  constellation 
of  ideas  is  thus  a  system  of  mental  elements  having  some  special 
relationship  of  the  elements  to  each  other. 

We  must  next  consider  the  complex,  the  theory  of  which 
is  at  the  heart  of  the  psychoanalytic  method;  this  according  to 
our  own  findings  in  mental  analysis  represents  a  vitally  im- 
portant subject.  Various  authors  have  sketched  their  concep- 
tions of  a  mental  complex,  particularly  as  they  have  taken  or 
modified  the  idea  from  Freud,  who  develops  such  an  extensive 
psychological  superstructure  upon  this  foundation.  (There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  concept  of  a  mental  complex  existed  long 
before  Freud's  day,  albeit  with  little  consideration  of  the 

1  William  Healy.  Mental  Conflicts  and  Misconduct,  p.  22-8.  Little, 
Brown  and  Company.  Boston.  1917. 


360  PRACTICAL    PSYCHOLOGY  FOR 

phenomenon  and  no  attention  to  practical  applications.)  We  may 
gather  from  all  these  writers  that  a  complex  is  a  constellation 
of  mental  elements  permeated  with  a  vigorous  emotional  tone, 
a  system  or  association  of  ideas  grouped  about  an  emotional 
core  or  center.  The  existence  of  such  peculiarly  disposed 
constellated  systems  no  one  can  doubt;  how  important  they 
are  for  us  as  students  of  misconduct  will  appear  many  times 
to  our  readers. 

The  complex  has  other  essential  characteristics.  Being 
possessed  of  an  emotional  tone  it  has  energy-producing  powers; 
by  reason  of  this  it  may  be,  and  often  is,  a  great  determiner  of 
thoughts  and  actions.  This  is  merely  following  the  general  law 
that  emotion-tinged  portions  of  the  mental  content  are  the 
dynamic  elements  of  mental  life.  And  it  also  appears  that  only 
parts  of  complexes  active  as  producers  of  behavior  appear  in 
consciousness.  This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  a  very  distinct 
effort  or  exploration  is  necessary  to  bring  any  such  entire  system 
of  ideas  into  view. 

Discovery  that  portions  of  an  active  complex  are  left  in  the 
mental  background  as  subconscious  led  to  study  of  the  phenom- 
enon known  as  repression.  When  a  mental  experience,  or 
group  of  thoughts  with  an  emotional  tone,  or  part  of  such  a 
constellated  system  of  ideas,  is  pushed  back,  "put  out  of  mind," 
"forgotten,"  it  is  said  to  be  repressed.  This  seeking  oblivion 
for  an  experience  may  be  more  or  less  of  an  automatic,  hardly 
conscious  reaction,  perhaps  directly  dictated  by  naturally  falling 
in  line  with  social  conformities,  either  family  or  general,  or  it 
may  be  a  thoroughly  deliberate  attempt  to  get  rid  of  something 
conceived  as  undesirable. 

Here  we  are  brought  sharply  up  against  the  question  of 
whether  there  can  be  any  real  "forgetting"  and  "putting  out  of 
mind."  Above  all,  we  know  that  anything  once  experienced  as 
mental  content  is  subject  to  being  stored.  And  it  is  a  matter  of 
everyday  knowledge  that  the  storage  places  of  the  mind  contain 
many  things  that  the  conscious  self  is  not  aware  of,  either  in 
detail  or  as  being  stored.  No  one  has  had  a  keener  insight  into 
the  nature  and  importance  of  memory  processes  than  the  phil- 
osopher Bergson,  and  our  own  appreciation  of  this  side  of  mental 
life  may  well  be  served  by  quoting  from  him  a  paragraph  that 
must  have  caught  the  eye  of  many  students  of  mental  analysis. 
Speaking  of  memory  he  says,  "And  as  the  past  grows  without 


BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES  361 

ceasing,  so  also  there  is  no  limit  to  its  preservation.  .  .  In 
reality,  the  past  is  preserved  by  itself  automatically.  In  its 
entirety,  probably,  it  follows  us  every  instant;  all  that  we  have 
felt,  thought,  and  willed  from  our  earliest  infancy  is  there, 
leaning  over  the  present  which  is  about  to  join  it,  pressing 
against  the  portals  of  consciousness  that  would  fain  leave  it 
outside.  The  cerebral  mechanism  is  arranged  just  so  as  to 
drive  back  into  the  unconscious  almost  the  whole  of  this  past, 
and  to  admit  beyond  the  threshold  only  that  which  can  cast 
light  on  the  present  situation  or  further  the  action  now  being 
prepared.  .  .  Doubtless  we  think  with  only  a  small  part  of  our 
past,  but  it  is  with  our  entire  past,  including  the  original  bent 
of  our  soul,  that  we  desire,  will,  and  act.  Our  past,  then,  as  a 
whole  is  made  manifest  to  us  in  its  impulse;  it  is  felt  in  the 
form  of  tendency,  although  a  small  part  of  it  only  is  known 
in  the  form  of  idea."  From  these  words  we  get  a  picture  of 
mental  life  that  is  peculiarly  valuable  as  a  background  upon 
which  some  fundamental  conceptions  of  mental  analysis  in 
relation  to  misconduct  may  be  developed.  .  . 

Subconscious  mental  life,  which  is  one  of  the  main  concerns 
of  dynamic  psychology,  although  hardly  mentioned  by  name  in 
many  textbooks  of  psychology,  requires  from  us  some  discussion 
concerning  certain  points  of  special  import.  (I  hold  no  brief 
for  the  term  subconscious  as  opposed  to  or  distinct  from  the 
meaning  of  the  word  unconscious,  which  is  sometimes  used 
in  this  connection,  but  it  does  seem  more  serviceable,  since 
the  latter,  as  applied  to  mental  processes,  seems  to  offer  a 
contradiction  in  terms.  As  might  be  expected  in  a  newly 
developed  science,  words  have  been  utilized  that  have  meanings 
attached  not  altogether  suitable  for  subsequent  finer  discrimina- 
tions). The  subconscious  part  of  the  mind  may  be  defined  in  its 
widest  significance  as  that  portion  of  mental  life  which,  at  least 
for  the  time  being,  is  outside  the  general  field  of  attention.  Of 
course,  the  only  proof  of  the  existence  of  this  background  of 
mind  material  is  the  fact  that  on  occasion  portions  of  it  are 
presented  above  the  threshold  of  consciousness,  namely,  in  the 
field  of  attention.  Now,  part  of  what  is  subconscious  may  be 
voluntarily  recalled,  with  small  or  with  greater  difficulty.  Some 
of  it  only  makes  itself  known  by  involuntarily  flashing  or 
jumping  into  consciousness.  Still  other  portions,  in  order  to 
get  above  the  threshold  of  conscious  thought,  need  the  use  of 


362  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

artifices,  such  as  hypnotism,  hypnoidal  states,  or  the  free  asso- 
ciation methods,  or  require  directive  insistence  on  closely  tracing 
associations  for  special  memories.  That  an  enormous  number 
of  past  experiences  cannot  be  voluntarily  remembered  is  un- 
doubtedly true.  In  the  storehouse  of  the  subconscious  mind 
some  of  the  material  is  near  the  portals  of  easy  exit,  some 
material  is  far  off  in  dark  nooks  and  crannies,  far  from  the 
doorway  and  the  light  of  conscious  thought. 

Particularly  well  conserved  in  subconsciousness,  as  I  have 
already  stated,  are  mental  experiences  or  groups  of  mental 
elements  which  are  stored  away  accompanied  by  a  strong  emo- 
tional tone.  This  is  a  matter  of  common-sense  observation  with 
all  of  us.  These  special  constellations  are  peculiarly  the  ones 
of  which  parts  flash  up  into  the  field  of  attention,  and  which 
cause  substitutive  reactions  of  various  sorts.  The  most  virile 
of  these  complexes  are  those  in  which  the  original  emotion  or 
"affect"  was  powerfully  repressed,  totally  unreacted  to,  strangu- 
lated. The  strength  of  a  complex  as  a  producer  of  unusual  and 
abnormal  mental,  physical,  or  social  behavior  is  not  measured 
by  the  length  of  time  since  it  was  repressed.  Neither  is  its 
force  to  be  judged  by  the  fact  of  easy  recognition  or  of  complete 
disguise  of  any  part  which  appears  at  the  surface  of  conscious- 
ness, nor  by  the  comparative  difficulties  experienced  in  pulling 
the  complex  up  to  the  surface  to  be  seen  and  known  for  what 
it  is. 


XIX.  CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  ABNORMAL 
PSYCHOLOGY  TO  BUSINESS  PROBLEMS 

RELATION  OF  ABNORMAL  PSYCHOLOGY  TO 
EVERYDAY  LIFE1 

The  flood  of  light  thrown  upon  the  workings  of  the  human 
mind  by  the  discoveries  and  the  resulting  conceptions  of  modern 
psychopathologists  has  illuminated  the  mental  mechanism,  not 
only  of  the  hysteric  and  the  madman,  but  of  the  normal  human 
being.  It  is  clear  beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt  or  cavil  that 
the  mental  factors  which  produce  the  characteristic  behavior 
of  the  neurotic  and  the  lunatic  are  at  work  in  the  "normal"  mind 
and  give  rise  to  many  well-known  traits  of  "normal"  behavior 
as  to  behavior  and  conduct  which  we  may  not  care  to  call 
"normal,"  but  which  falls  short  of  anything  for  which  the  help 
of  a  physician  would  be  sought.  Much  of  the  modern  work  in 
psychopathology  has  in  fact  a  most  direct  and  intimate  bearing 
on  the  everyday  life  of  us  all,  and  on  every  human  problem. 

.  .  .The  modern  study  of  psychopathology,  the  greatest  ad- 
vances in  which  we  owe  to  Janet,  Freud  and  Jung,  has  brought  to 
light  a  great  mass  of  data  and  some  fundamentally  important 
conceptions  of  the  highest  value  to  psychology,  and  these  have 
given  the  impulse  to  a  new  development  of  psychological  theory. 
The  most  important  general  conclusion  reached  is  that  the 
abnormal  activities  of  the  mind,  as  seen  in  cases  of  hysteria  and 
insanity,  are  but  extreme  and  unbalanced  developments  of  char- 
acteristics and  functions  which  form  integral  parts  of  the  normal 
healthy  mind.  On  the  basis  of  this  conclusion  we  are  able  to 
interpret  many  of  the  most  baffling  phenomena  of  the  normal 
mind  in  the  light  of  these  pathological  developments,  and  thus 
to  obtain  a  far  deeper  insight  into  menial  structure  and  func- 
tions, in  just  the  same  way  that  pathological  developments  of 
the  tissues  and  functions  of  the  body  throw  light  upon  normal 

1  A  G.  Tansley.  The  New  Psychology,  p.  5,  13-14-  Dodd,  Mead  and 
Company.  New  York.  1920. 


364  PRACTICAL  PYSCHOLOGY  FOR 

physiological  processes.  In  both  cases  the  reactions  to  extreme 
stimuli,  the  behavior  of  the  organism  when  it  loses  the  normal 
balanced  adaptation  of  parts  to  one  another  and  to  the  environ- 
ment which  characterizes  healthy  life,  do  not  differ  in  kind,  but 
only  in  degree  from  reactions  to  normal  stimuli  and  from 
normal  behavior.  Both  classes  of  reaction  and  behavior — the 
normal  and  the  abnormal — are  conditioned  absolutely  by  the 
original  structure  and  capacities  of  the  organism.  When  the 
reaction  and  behavior  are  extreme,  we  are  presented,  as  it  were, 
with  an  analysis  of  the  normal  functions;  we  are  able  to  study 
the  deranged  function  more  or  less  in  isolation,  and  to  get  an 
idea  of  its  real  meaning  and  character  which  we  cannot  get 
when  it  is  kept  in  check  by  the  opposing  tendencies  which 
ordinarily  maintain  the  balance  of  the  whole  organism. 

The  new  psychology,  then,  looks  upon  the  human  mind  as 
a  highly  developed  organism,  intimately  adapted,  as  regards  its 
most  fundamental  traits,  to  the  needs  of  its  possessor,  built  up 
and  elaborated  during  a  long  course  of  evolution  in  constant 
relation  to  those  needs,  but  often  showing  the  most  striking 
want  of  adaptation  and  adjustment  to  the  rapidly  developed  and 
rapidly  changing  demands  of  modern  civilized  life.  Its  most 
fundamental  activities  are  non-rational  and  largely  unconscious 
activities.  The  power  of  conscious  reasoning  is  a  later  develop- 
ment, playing  but  a  minpr  part,  even  in  the  most  highly  developed 
human  being,  on  the  surface,  so  to  speak,  of  the  firmly  built 
edifice  of  instincts,  emotions,  and  desires,  which  form  the  main 
structure  of  the  mental  organism.  In  many  cases  the  apparent 
importance  of  rational  activity  is  seen  to  be  illusory,  forming 
as  it  were  a  mere  cloak  for  the  action  of  deep-seated  instincts 
and  desires. 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  COST  OF  SUBNORMAL  AND 
ABNORMAL  EMPLOYEES  * 

CASE  3.  Young  man,  thirty  years  old,  of  Irish-American 
parents.  .  . 

He  has  kept  an  elaborate  work  record  from   1910  to   1919, 

1 M.  J.  Powers.  Mental  Hygiene  Committee,  State  Charities  Aid 
Association,  New  York.  Report  in  Proceedings  of  National  Conference 
of  Social  Work.  1920.  p.  344-6. 


BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES  365 

showing  one  hundred  twenty-three  jobs,  the  year  in  which  he 
held  them,  the  city,  type  of  work,  name  of  employer,  wages 
received,  length  of  employment,  and  whether  he  was  discharged 
or  left  voluntarily.  Most  of  these  positions  have  been  verified 
and  the  statistics  which  they  present  are  of  especial  interest  to 
the  problem  under  discussion.  The  one  hundred  twenty-three 
jobs  represent  one  hundred  three  different  firms  for  whom  he 
worked  and  thirty-three  different  occupations  which  he  followed. 
His  longest  period  at  any  one  job  was  eight  months,  his  shortest 
period  of  work  being  one  day,  with  an  average  of  twelve  and  a 
half  days  spent  at  each.  He  worked  a  total  number  of  1,545 
days  for  the  time  covered,  or  about  one  day  out  of  every  two. 
He  was  eighty  times  discharged,  resigned  twenty  times,  and 
nineteen  of  the  positions  were  temporary  work.  His  total 
earnings  for  the  ten  years  were  $3,316.21. 

The  kinds  of  work  which  the  patient  did  can  be  grouped 
under  three  main  headings,  jobs  as  laborer,  of  which  there  were 
thirty,  clerical  positions  thirty- two,  and  jobs  as  semi-skilled 
worker,  where  proficiency  is  obtained  after  a  few  months'  experi- 
ence, thirty-three.  Satisfactory  estimates  or  studies  of  the  cost 
of  breaking  in  men  are  very  scarce.  Those  which  are  available 
have  been  made  by  personnel  managers  and  the  experts  con- 
nected with  certain  industries  and  are  more  in  the  nature  of 
roughly  assumed  estimates  than  scientific  statistical  studies. 
Using  a  scale  which  is  considered  conservative  as  a  basis  for 
computing  the  cost  of  the  labor  turnover  for  this  one  individual, 
his  cost  of  hiring  can  be  estimated  at  $47.50,  cost  of  training 
$960,  wear  and  tear  $392,  reduced  production  $1,879,  °r  a  total 
of  $3,608.50,  a  sum  which  exceeds  his  earnings  by  about  $300. 
If  we  estimate  the  normal  earnings  of  a  man  of  this  class  at 
$1,200  per  year,  then  the  total  wages  which  he  should  have  re- 
ceived for  this  time,  or  $12,000,  must  be  added  to  the  foregoing 
in  calculating  his  cost  to  society.  The  statistics  used  here  do 
not  include  the  cost  of  rehiring  by  the  same  firm.  This  occurred 
twelve  times,  mostly  in  cases  of  newspaper  press  rooms  where 
the  night  work  afforded  him  lodging. 

Such  efficiency  methods  as  have  been  used  in  the  past  take 
care  of  only  normal  individuals,  but  the  so-called  normal  workers 
make  up  only  a  certain  percentage  of  the  labor  supply.  The 
psychopathic  employee  is  not  sufficiently  normal  to  fit  into  effi- 
ciency methods  nor  is  he  subnormal  or  abnormal  enough  to  be 


366  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY  FOR 

committed  to  an  institution.  Hence  he  is  forced  into  a  life  of 
wandering  which  eventually  works  to  his  own  detriment,  and 
that  of  society.  Receiving  no  help  toward  a  more  successful 
handling  of  his  difficulties,  he  repeats  his  experience  with  an 
endless  number  of  positions  to  the  great  cost  of  productive  labor 
and  capital.  The  case  just  cited  shows  clearly  the  extent  of 
waste  in  present  methods  of  handling  such  people.  This  man 
only  earned  $3,316.21  in  the  past  ten  years;  the  rest  of  the  time 
he  has  lived  upon  the  contributions  made  by  charitably  inclined 
persons  who  were  moved  to  pity  by  his  hard-luck  stories,  or 
else  by  social  agencies.  When  these  were  not  sufficient,  he 
resorted  to  grafting,  panhandling,  borrowing,  etc.  His  waste 
to  industry  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  his  earnings  were  less 
than  the  cost  of  labor  turnover.  And  his  cost  to  society  is  much 
greater  than  the  cost  of  maintaining  him  in  a  state  hospital 
for  the  entire  period. 

Such  cases  as  the  foregoing  are  illustrative  of  the  psycho- 
pathic employee.  It  is  not  possible  to  estimate  at  present  the 
exact  percentage  of  labor  constituted  by  such  individuals,  but 
that  they  make  an  appreciable  number  is  certain.  One  indus- 
trial organization  which  is  beginning  to  appreciate  the  existence 
of  the  problem,  recently  expressed  the  opinion  that  they  feared 
to  open  a  psychiatric  clinic  for  fear  of  being  swamped. 

Since  such  individuals  exist  in  such  large  numbers,  some 
plan  must  be  created  to  make  use  of  them.  This  can  only  be 
done  through  education  of  the  public  generally,  as  well  as 
employers  and  employment  managers  specifically,  in  the  under- 
standing of  human  nature  from  a  psychiatric  view  point.  Such 
a  program  must  necessarily  be  slow,  since  the  ignorance  and 
prejudice  of  the  public  at  large  is  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in 
the  problem.  Society's  own  resistance  to  an  insight  into  its 
own  make-up  leads  it  to  treat  as  mysterious  and  dangerous  all 
mental  abnormalities.  That  the  correction  of  society's  state  of 
mind  is  one  of  the  tasks  of  mental  hygiene  is  self-evident. 

It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  await  the  general  awakening 
on  the  part  of  the  public  at  large  before  undertaking  more 
practical  measures  to  deal  with  the  employment  problems  of  the 
psychopathic  worker.  There  are  already  in  existence  a  number 
of  excellent  courses  which  train  workers  in  the  recognition  of 
mental  symptoms,  something  of  their  causation,  and  the  means 
of  assisting  such  individuals  toward  social  and  vocational  adjust- 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  367 

ment.  Psychometric  tests  are  of  value  and  mark  a  decided  step 
in  advance,  but  since  they  do  not  take  into  account  the  emo- 
tional nor  personality  factors  in  the  situation  they  are  not  a 
solution  of  the  problem.  In  order  to  identify  the  psychopath  in 
industry  and  effectively  utilize  him,  each  employment  department 
should  have  on  its  staff  at  least  one  person  who  has  been  trained 
to  recognize  and  handle  such  individuals,  not  alone  for  the 
purpose  of  placing  him  at  work  but  of  securing  an  adjustment 
to  that  work  which  will  insure  his  maximum  of  productivity 
to  industry  and  of  satisfaction  to  himself.  The  cost  of  training 
one  member  of  the  staff  of  each  employment  department  in 
mental  hygiene  principles  is  infinitesimal  compared  to  the  money 
wasted  in  allowing  present  methods  to  continue. 

The  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor  Statistics  has  said 
that  unemployment,  although  not  yet  recognized  as  an  industrial 
accident,  nevertheless  causes  more  slowing  down  of  production, 
demoralization  and  suffering  than  all  other  industrial  mishaps. 
Among  the  various  causes  of  unemployment  he  mentions  the 
lack  of  a  properly  balanced  organization  of  industry,  lack  of  an 
intelligent  employment  policy  for  hiring  and  handling  men, 
failure  to  gain  the  good-will  of  employees,  failure  to  make  use 
of  the  tremendous  latent  force  lying  dormant  in  the  workers. 
Each  one  of  these  causes  has  a  special  significance  to  those 
who  earnestly  believe  that  in  scientific  inquiry  and  in  more 
understanding  of  the  needs  and  creative  possibilities  of  the 
psychopathic  states  in  human  nature  lies  an  effective  weapon 
for  striking  at  the  roots  of  the  current  unrest. 


SOME  MAJOR  TYPES  OF  MALADJUSTMENT  * 

We  shall  describe  in  a  few  words  the  twelve  types  of  misfits 
mentioned,  in  order  to  make  plain  the  problem  and  the  need. 

First,  the  apparently  unambitious  employee,  who  refuses  the 
opportunity  to  advance,  tho  apparently  capable  of  advancement. 
Is  this  employee  really  unambitious,  or  is  he  simply  modest  and 
afraid  to  assume  responsibility?  Again,  is  he  really  capable  of 
advancement  or  only  apparently  so?  Dr.  Southard  tells  us  of 
many  cases  in  his  experience  that  showed  that,  where  respon- 

1  Frank  B.  Gilbreth  and  Lillian  M.  Gilbreth.  Independent.  June  12, 
1920.  102:355,  376. 


368  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

sibility  was  forced  upon  those  who  unwillingly  assumed  it, 
the  individual  upon  whom  it  was  imposed  often  could  not  rise 
to  that  which  the  new  work  demanded  of  him.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  have  not,  in  our  experience,  many  cases  in  the  indus- 
tries that  show  that,  when  a  person  has  been  gradually  given 
more  responsibility,  and  has  been  properly  trained  to  assume 
it  in  accordance  with  our  standard  practice  of  the  Three  Posi- 
tion Plan  of  Promotion,  the  results  are  not  satisfactory.  Often 
what  has  seemed  to  be  lack  of  ambition  turns  out  to  be  timidity, 
over-conscientiousness,  or  a  feeling  of  unpreparedness  for  the 
new  duties. 

Who  is  to  decide  whether  the  employee  is  right  in  declining 
advancement,  or  whether  the  manager  is  right  in  urging  certain 
placement?  Only  an  expert  in  diagnosing  and  understanding 
states  of  mind  and  analyzing  causes  and  results  of  experience 
can  make  an  adequate  decision. 

Second,  the  inquisitive  employee,  with  an  exaggerated 
curiosity  incapable  of  sustained  attention,  who  is  apparently  bored 
by  standardized  methods,  and  refuses  to  try  them.  Such 
curiosity  shows  itself  in  many  ways,  the  distraction  of  attention 
if  anyone  passes  through  the  room,  or  at  the  slightest  new 
happening  or  even  new  noise,  or  if  the  desk  of  the  foreman 
or  other  person  in  charge  is  in  a  location  behind  the  worker 
while  at  work. 

The  dislike  of  standardization  and  everything  pertaining 
to  it  may  show  itself  in  a  decided  tendency  never  to  do  things 
twice  alike.  We  have  met  cases  where  this  applied  even  to  so 
simple  and  elementary  a  matter  as  the  form  of  checking  mark 
used  in  checking  off  items  on  a  list.  The  attitude  of  the 
worker  toward  the  principle  and  practice  of  standardization 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  valuable  tests  of  fitness  and 
of  need  of  special  training.  Sometimes  this  aversion  to  or 
hatred  of  standardization  is  conscious.  Sometimes  it  is  a  mis- 
guided conception  of  the  relation  between  standardization  and 
monotony.  Very  often  it  is  unconscious,  and  the  worker  seems 
to  find  it  impossible  to  do  anything  twice  alike.  We  have  had 
cases  where  inability  to  do  work  twice  the  same  way  was  the 
first  indication  we  noticed  of  a ,  mental  defect  that  was  later 
recognized  as  insanity. 

Perhaps  no  one  thing  will  do  so  much  to  interfere  with  one's 
progress,  yet  in  most  cases  can  be  cured  so  easily,  as  an  aversion 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  369 

to  or  lack  of  habits  of  standardization  of  methods  in  small  as 
well  as  large  things.  Demonstration  of  the  benefits  of  standard- 
ization and  its  relation  to  the  one  best  way  to  do  work  and 
teaching  of  efficient  methods  will  show  whether  there  is  any- 
thing seriously  wrong  with  the  worker  or  not. 

Third,  the  worker  who  is  constantly  making  valueless  sug- 
gestions and  inventions,  or  inventions  downward  in  the  path  of 
cumulative  improvement.  This  type  is  apt  to  tire  even  of  his 
own  inventions,  as  soon  as  they  are  made,  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  is  loath  even  to  "try  them  out"  himself,  as  he  often  has  a 
new  invention,  or  at  least  a  change,  ready  to  suggest  before  his 
previous  suggestion  is  even  tried.  His  interest  lies  not  at  all 
in  the  result  of  improvement  embodied  in  the  suggestion  or 
improvement,  but  simply  in  a  desire  to  make  changes  from 
accepted  standards,  and  in  many  cases  he  cares  little  or  nothing 
for  any  changes  with  which  his  name  as  suggester  is  not  identi- 
fied. This  type  is  very  common.  It  is  by  no  means  confined  to 
those  occupying  humbler  positions.  It  often  includes  a  type 
high  up,  and  particularly  those  thought  of  as  "System  Pests." 
One  will  realize  how  numerous  are  those  of  this  type  when  one 
is  engaged  in  installing  management  and  finds  how  many  people 
will  suggest  changes  and  new  methods  before  they  understand 
the  method  being  installed,  which  is  the  "design  from  practice." 

Fourth,  the  ambitious  employee  with  a  strong  desire  for 
a  specific  job,  for  which  he  apparently  is  not  suited.  This  type 
is  very  common,  and  our  own  experience  has  been  that  if  a 
desire  is  strong  enough,  the  worker  will,  in  a  surprising  number 
of  cases,  overcome  the  apparent  unsuitability,  and  will  usually 
make  good  at  the  work  he  specially  desires.  It  may  be  that  he 
is  therein  gratifying  a  "suppressed  desire."  This  is  for  the 
psychiatrist  to  find  out.  Countless  examples  of  this  type  can 
be  found  among  the  crippled,  and  the  number  who  have  made 
good  in  spite  of  their  apparent  unsuitability  has  taught  the 
manager  and  the  psychiatrist  that  they  must  use  the  utmost  care 
in  making  their  decisions,  as  they  may  themselves  be  the  ones 
who  prevent  the  apparently  unsuitable  from  fitting  for  his  best 
opportunity.  A  safe  rule  to  remember  is  that  the  man  who  has 
sufficient  desire  for  a  specific  job,  and  who  is  willing  to  utilize 
his  spare  time  in  studying  and  fitting  himself  to  fill  it,  will 
almost  always  make  good  at  whatever  he  sets  his  heart  on. 

Fifth,    the    young    in    years,    who    have    apparently    stopped 


370  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

learning.  To  stop  learning  is  the  great  tragedy  of  life.  If  the 
psychiatrist  does  nothing  but  discover  why  this  type  stopped 
learning,  he  will  have  done  a  wonderful  piece  of  work  for  the 
individual  involved  and  for  industry  as  a  whole.  We  hear  of 
blind  alley  jobs.  These  are  usually  misunderstood.  A  blind 
alley  job  is  not  so  frequently  one  that  has  no  apparent  line  of 
promotion  as  one  that  makes  it  easy  to  stop  learning.  How 
shall  this  mental  inertia  be  overcome?  That  is  for  the  psychiatrist 
to  say. 

Sixth,  the  restless,  nomadic  type  who  wants  to  "go  some- 
where," though  given  high  wages  and  as  good  a  chance  for 
advancement  as  he  could  expect.  Here  we  have  the  typical 
"floater,"  capable  and  desirable  from  the  employer's  standpoint, 
but  dissatisfied  with  any  fixed  occupation  and  always  sure  that 
his  real  opportunity  lies  in  some  other  place.  Possible  advances 
in  pay  or  promotion  seem  to  have  little  or  no  effect  upon  this 
type.  It  seems  as  natural  for  this  type  to  float  as  for  birds 
to  go  south  every  winter. 

The  type  is  not  new.  History  has  long  recorded  the  wander- 
ings of  the  journeyman,  the  gypsy,  the  tramp,  the  tourist,  the 
explorer  and  the  pioneer.  The  younger  one  is,  and  the  less 
responsibility  one  has,  the  stronger  this  fundamental  "go  some- 
where" instinct  is.  We  all  have  it  in  some  degree.  But  in  the 
case  of  many  of  this  type  it  is  so  strong  and  its  call  is  so 
imperative  that  it  interferes  with  progress,  since  the  desire  for 
travel  has  no  definite  industrial,  vocational  or  promotion  aim 
in  view,  and  is  not  gratified  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  valuable 
experience. 

Seventh,  the  "fixed  idea"  group,  with  immovable  ideas  con- 
cerning capital,  labor,  employer,  foreman,  other  workers,  etc. 
These  differ  from  those  who  have  stopped  learning  in  that  they 
have  very  definite  ideas  on  many  subjects  that  prevent  or  post- 
pone the  revision  of  ideas  and  the  acquiring  of  additional 
knowledge.  This  type  is  often  fond  of  arguing,  but  no  matter 
upon  what  subject  they  speak,  are  sure  to  arrive  at  one  of 
their  fixed  ideas.  They  hold  themselves  impervious  to  new 
ideas.  Unfortunately  these  fixed  ideas  are  often  extremely 
radical,  and  the  worker  may  become  dangerous  to  himself,  to 
his  family,  to  the  industry  and  to  the  entire  community. 

Eighth,  the  type  who  refuse  to  take  advantage  of  "safety 
first,"  and  who  think  that  it  is  smart  to  disobey  or  defy  or 
evade  rules  for  the  practice  of  safety.  These  are  not  limited 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  371 

to  the  young,  although  recklessness  is  usually  thought  to  be  a 
characteristic  of  youth.  In  the  days  when  "safety  first"  was  new, 
and  recklessness  was  fashionable,  it  was  more  or  less  excusable. 
The  man  who  did  "safety  first"  stunts  to  amuse  himself  and  his 
fellow  workers,  was  looked  upon  as  a  "regular  feller,"  as 
"good  company"  and  as  a  man  "not  scared  of  anything."  Today, 
when  "safety  first"  is  an  established  part  of  job  and  shop 
routine,  and  when  recklessness  is  no  longer  fashionable  or 
desirable,  there  is  no  excuse  for  it.  However,  the  type  still  re- 
mains, and  is  at -present  a  menace. 

Ninth,  the  self  centered  type,  who  refuses  to  recognize  the 
social  side  or  to  cooperate  either  with  fellow  workers  or  with 
the  employer.  This  is  a  type  which  brings  much  more  suffering 
to  itself  than  to  others,  and  is  one  of  the  types  to  which  the 
attention  of  the  psychiatrist  can  be  immediately  directed  with 
profit  It  seems  obvious  that  there  is  something  decidedly  wrong 
here,  which  is  causing  much  unhappiness,  and  which  the  success 
of  the  psychiatrist  in  treating  similar  types  out  of  industry,  leads 
one  to  believe  can  be  easily  helped. 

Tenth,  the  timid,  or  over-fearful  type,  who  dread  even 
remote  and  improbable  accidents  from  being  struck  by  lightning 
to  falling  down  stairs.  Industry  itself  is  doing  much  to  help 
this  type,  by  provisions  for  and  evidences  of  safety,  provisions 
for  health  and  hygiene,  by  a  definite  plan  for  promotion  and 
satisfying  advancement,  and  by  otherwise  eliminating  causes  of 
possible  fears.  In  the  extreme  of  this  type,  however,  there  is 
found  constant  fear  of  things  that  are  never  likely  to  happen, 
and  it  is  this  type  of  fear  with  which  the  psychiatrist  must  cope. 

Eleventh,  the  indecisive  type,  who  waver  and  hesitate  over 
the  simplest  decision.  In  industry  we  cope  with  this  type  by  so 
standardizing  the  work  that  the  required  decisions  of  their  work 
cycles  can  be  reduced  in  number,  separated  and  individually 
explained,  and  their  proper  handling  taught.  It  is,  however, 
a  slow  and  difficult  problem  to  advance  the  indecisive  type 
far  without  carefully  planned  methods  of  adjustment. 

Twelfth,  the  over-decisive  type,  who  are  carried  away  quickly 
by  a  partial  knowledge  of  an  idea,  but  who  have  little  power 
to  evaluate  evidence  as  .distinguished  from  testimony,  and  no 
regard  for  the  value  of  actual  measurement  in  guiding  decisions. 
These  have  some  relationship  to  the  self-centered,  but  are  in 
many  ways  very  different.  The  "fixed  idea"  people  may  have 
come  to  their  ideas  slowly.  These  over-decisive  people  rush 


372  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

into  things  without  proper  deliberation.  They  are  the  type 
that  makes  the  ideal  mailing  list  for  promotion  of  frauduleiit 
advertising,  and  are  the  most  intolerable  in  religion,  politics, 
and  matters  pertaining  to  fraternal  orders  and  secret  societies. 

As  has  been  said,  these  twelve  types  are  by  no  means  the 
only  such  types  to  be  found  in  industry.  Neither  must  it  be 
thought  that  these  types  are  always  in  the  extreme  forms  that 
we  have  outlined  here.  Nor,  again,  must  it  be  thought  that 
such  types  are  receiving  no  attention  at  present,  for  in  fact 
managers  are  doing  their  best  in  many  cases  to  understand  and 
advance  them,  and  many  cases  how  are  under  the  care  of 
psychiatrists,  but  not  through  industry  itself.  What  we  are 
pleading  for  is  the  discovery  and  treatment  of  such  types  in  the 
early  stages,  through  the  initiative  of  industry. 

It  must  be  apparent,  as  the  late  Carleton  Parker  so  clearly 
realized  and  said,  that  the  underlying  cause  of  industrial  ineffi- 
ciency lies  in  instincts  that  have  been  suppressed  or  diverted. 
Most  of  those  who  propose  remedies  for  industrial  unrest  have 
this  in  mind,  though  they  cannot  or  do  not  always  make  this 
clear.  Any  successful  remedy  must  have  it  in  mind. 


SHELL  SHOCK  AND  ITS  LESSONS  * 

It  is  an  axiom  in  medicine  that  correct  diagnosis  is  the 
indispensable  preliminary  to  the  rational  and  intelligent  treatment 
of  disease.  This  fundamental  principle  is  universally  recognized 
in  dealing  with  bodily  affections;  but  it  is  the  primary  object 
of  this  book  to  insist  that  it  is  equally  necessary  to  observe  the 
same  principle  in  the  case  of  mental  illness. 

It  may  seem  ironical  to  stress  this  elementary  consideration, 
but  it  is  notorious  that  accurate  diagnosis  is  too  often  ignored 
in  cases  of  incipient  mental  disturbance.  It  is  idle  to  pretend 
that  such  a  procedure  is  unnecessary,  or  to  urge  in  extenuation 
of  the  failure  to  search  for  causes  that  many  patients  recover 
under  the  influence  of  nothing  more  than  rest,  quiet,  and  ample 
diet. 

Many  mild  cases  of  illness,  whether  bodily  or  mental,  may 
and  do  recover  even  if  undiagnosed  or  untreated.  But  on  the 

1 G.  Elliot  Smith  and  T.  H.  Pear.  Shell  Shock  and  Its  Lessons, 
p.  47-52.  Longmans,  Green  and  Company.  New  York.  1917.  Reprinted  by 
permission. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  373 

other  hand  many  mild  cases  get  worse;  and  it  is  the  primary 
duty  of  the  physician  correctly  to  diagnose  the  nature  of  the 
trouble  and  to  give  a  prognosis— to  decide  whether  the  illness 
is  mild  or  severe.  Some  of  the  most  serious  cases  of  incipient 
mental  trouble  are  those  of  patients  who  do  not  seem  to  be 
really  ill,  and  are  easily  overlooked  by  a  visiting  physician. 
They  are  quiet  and  inoffensive  and  display  no  obvious  signs  of 
the  insidious  processes  that  are  at  work  in  them.  But  all  the 
time  they  may  be,  and  often  are,  brooding  over  some  grievance 
or  moral  conflict,  worrying  about  their  feelings,  misinterpreting 
them  and  gradually  systematizing  these  misunderstandings  until 
they  become  set  as  definite  delusions  or  hallucinations.  If, 
acting  on  the  belief  that  it  is  bad  to  talk  about  a  patient's  worries, 
the  phxsician  leaves  such  a  man  alone,  he  is  clearly  neglecting 
his  obvious  duty.  For  the  trouble  may  be  due  to  some  trivial 
misunderstanding  which  he  could  easily  correct. 

In  the  severer  forms  of  mental  disease,  precise  diagnosis 
is  even  more  intimately  related  to  treatment  than  in  the  case  of 
bodily  illness.  For  when  a  patient's  illness  is  recognized  as 
some  bodily  affliction,  such  as  pneumonia  or  appendicitis,  certain 
general  lines  of  treatment  are  laid  down  as  soon  as  the  appro- 
priate label  has  been  found  for  the  complaint,  though,  in  the 
case  of  the  latter  illness,  there  is  added  the  further  problem  of 
whether  or  not  surgical  interference  is  indicated. 

In  cases  of  mental  disturbance,  however,  the  general  lines 
of  treatment  cannot  thus  arbitrarily  be  determined  merely  by 
finding  an  appropriate  label.  It  is  true  that  as  in  the  treatment 
of  bodily  disease,  certain  general  principles  must  be  observed, 
such  as  the  provision  of  abundant  and  suitable  food,  and  the 
protection  of  the  patient  from  all  disturbing  influences.  But  the 
essence  of  the  mentally  afflicted  patient's  trouble  is  some  particular 
form  of  anxiety  or  worry  which  is  individual  and  personal. 
The  aim  of  the  diagnosis,  therefore,  should  be  not  merely  to 
determine  the  appropriate  generic  label  for  the  affliction,  but 
rather  to  discover  the  particular  circumstances  which  have  given 
rise  to  the  present  state.  The  special  object  of  the  physician 
should  be  to  remove  or  nullify  the  exciting  cause  of  the  dis- 
turbance; and  in  order  to  do  this  it  is  essential  that  he  should 
discover  the  precise  nature  of  the  trouble.  The  diagnosis, 
therefore,  must  be  of  a  different  nature  from  that  demanded 
in  case  of  physical  illness,  where  the  condition  may  be  ade- 


374  PRACTICAL   PSYCHOLOGY    FOR 

quately  defined  by  some  such  generic  term  as  "lobar  pneumonia" 
or  "acute  appendicitis,"  and  its  gravity  estimated  by  the  general 
condition  and  physique  of  the  patient.  In  the  case  of  mental 
trouble,  the  physician  has  to  make  an  individual  diagnosis, 
based  not  only  upon  an  insight  into  the  personality  but  also 
into  the  particular  anxieties  of  each  patient. 

But  even  when  it  is  recognized  that  exact  diagnosis  of  the 
particular  circumstances  of  each  individual  patient  is  essential, 
if  the  trouble  is  to  be  treated  rationally  and  with  insight,  there 
still  remain  many  difficult  problems  as  to  procedure. 

Amongst  those  whom  experience  has  convinced  of  the  efficacy 
of  psychology  treatment  for  this  class  of  case,  there  are  indica- 
tions of  a  divergence  of  opinion  in  the  matter  of  procedure. 
Some  believe  that  it  is  sufficient  if  the  medical  man  has  discovered 
the  real  cause  of  the  trouble  and  explained  it  to  the  patient. 
Other  workers  look  upon  a  preliminary  psychical  examination 
merely  as  a  means  of  diagnosis,  the  unveiling  of  the  hidden 
cause  of  the  trouble;  and  consider  that  the  treatment  should  be 
the  laborious  and  often  lengthy  process  of  re-educating  the 
patient,  and  so  restoring  to  him  the  proper  control  of  himself. 
It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  emphasize  the  undoubted  fact 
that  those  who  maintain  either  of  these  views  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  other  are  committing  a  grievous  and  dangerous  error,  for 
there  is  no  sharp  line  of  demarcation  between  the  two  pro- 
cedures. 

A  sensible  and  intelligent  man,  once  the  cause  of  his  trouble 
has  been  made  clear  to  him,  may  be  competent  to  continue  to 
cure  himself,  and  completely  to  conquer  the  cause  of  his  undoing. 
But  the  duller  and  stupider  man  may  need  a  daily  demonstration 
and  renewal  of  confidence  before  he  begins  to  make  progress. 
It  is  precisely  analogous  to  the  experience  of  every  teacher  of  a 
class  of  students;  the  brilliant  man  will  seize  hold  of  a  principle 
at  once  and  learn  to  apply  it  without  further  help,  whereas  the 
dull  man  needs  repeated  and  concrete  demonstrations  before  it 
sinks  into  his  understanding. 

The  Therapeutic  Value  of  Work 

It  should  be  unnecessary  to  emphasize  the  desirability  of 
preventing  the  neurasthenic  from  dwelling  upon  his  subjective 
troubles  by  occupying  his  mind  with  other  things.  This  end 
may  often  be  achieved  by  the  provision  of  suitable  occupation, 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  375 

and  where  possible,  for  many  obvious  reasons,  this  occupation 
should  take  the  form  of  useful  work.  The  worker  then  feels 
that  he  is  not  a  mere  burden  upon  the  hospital  which  is  treating 
him :  the  institution  in  its  turn  benefits  materially.  But  it  is 
necessary  to  sound  a  note  of  warning  against  the  indiscriminate 
prescription  of  work  as  a  panacea.  First  of  all  it  should  be 
certain  that  the  work  is  of  such  a  kind  as  really  to  interest 
the  patient  and  to  occupy  his  mind.  There  are  many  varieties 
of  work,  especially  of  manual  labour,  which  can  be  performed 
mechanically,  and  do  not  succeed  in  distracting  the  attention 
from  worries  and  anxieties.  But  more  important  even  than  this 
is  the  consideration  that  there  are  some  mental  troubles  from 
which  no  form  of  work  will  distract  the  patient.  .  . 

To  suppose  that  the  mere  physical  fatigue  induced  by  a  day's 
hard  work  will  banish  all  forms  of  insomnia  betrays  an  ignorance 
of  one  of  the  most  important  causes  of  this  malady;  viz.,  mental 
conflict.  It  is  well  known  the  bodily  fatigue  in  the  case  of  a 
mentally  excited  patient  may  merely  increase  his  unrest  at 
night. 


A  CONDENSED  ANALYSIS  OF  PSYCHOLOGICAL 
MECHANISM  * 

The  major  purpose  is  to  set  forth  certain  of  the  newly  dis- 
covered mechanisms,  the  unconscious,  the  censor  displacement, 
projection,  compensation,  the  use  of  symbols  and  rationalization, 
which  have  been  developed  by  Freud,  Jung,  Ferenczi,  Adler, 
Abraham,  Pfister,  Blueler,  Jones,  Brill,  Frink  and  others,  and 
to  show  how  the  instincts  function  through  them,  and  how  these 
mechanisms  offer  an  explanation  of  the  social  behaviour  called 
the  economic  motivation.  In  so  brief  a  paper  it  will  not  be 
possible  to  -define  these  concepts  very  fully,  however  desirable 
it  may  seem  in  dealing  with  such  strange  concepts  and  dis- 
coveries. I  shall  define  the  concepts  in  a  few  words  and  then 
give  a  few  illustrations,  not  claiming  in  any  case  that  the  proof 
is  developed  in  the  paper.  To  develop  a  proof  of  a  particular 
illustration  often  requires  many  pages  or  even  a  book.  In  the 
extensive  literature  are  many  cases  of  scientific  treatment  and 

1  William  F.  Ogburn.  American  Economic  Review.  Vol.  9.  Sup.  I. 
March,  1919.  p.  299-301. 


376  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY   FOR 

proof.  Some  of  my  audience  may  not  be  familiar  with  the 
general  background  and  material,  and  to  these  I  will  say  that 
my  experience  in  such  events  has  been  that  some  of  the  illus- 
trations inevitably  have  seemed  unconvincing,  but  a  further 
reading  of  the  literature  usually  makes  them  appear  convincing. 
It  may  also  be  that  those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  dealing 
with  subjects  of  such  high  dignity  as  state  craft,  trade  relations 
of  nations,  or  general  economic  conditions,  will  find  that  illus- 
trations concerning  sex  and  the  behaviour  of  nervous  women 
seem  quite  trivial.  In  anticipation,  it  may  seem  desirable  to 
state  that  it  is  quite  necessary  to  draw  illustrations  from  these 
subjects,  because  such  has  been  the  field  of  research  which  has 
developed  them.  And  as  to  their  triviality,  such  an  attitude  is 
unwarranted,  just  as  much  so  as  to  consider  monographs  on  the 
earthworm  or  the  amoeba  as  being  trivial.  These  psychologists 
are  engaged  in  the  important  task  of  working  out  cures  for 
insanity  and  in  curing  cases  of  nervousness,  which  are  increasing 
at  such  a  rapid  rate  in  our  modern  life.  They  are  concerned 
with  the  very  real  problem  of  lessening  human  misery  and 
bringing  happiness,  and  bid  fair  to  do  it  just  as  truly  as  will  be 
done  by  the  increase  of  material  possessions  or  the  extension  of 
political  liberty.  Indeed,  the  discoveries  of  Freud  have  many 
times  been  claimed  to  be  as  significant  as  the  discovery  of  the 
theory  of. evolution  by  Darwin  and  Wallace. 

While  many  of  the  illustrations  are  from  abnormal  personali- 
ties, it  is  very  important  to  remember  that  the  psychologically 
insane  are  considered  to  differ  from  the  normal  only  in  degree, 
and  that  therefore  the  study  of  insanity  is  analogous  to  the  use 
of  the  microscope  in  the  laboratory. 

THE  UNCONSCIOUS.  A  great  many  of  our  desires  are  un- 
conscious. They  function  in  such  a  manner  that  we  are  uncon- 
scious of  their  real  nature.  Many  of  these  desires  cannot  be 
brought  to  consciousness  without  the  aid  and  assistance  of  some- 
one else.  Some  desires,  though  forgotten,  do  not  die,  but  live  on 
in  an  unconscious  state.  A  vast  amount  of  human  behaviour  is 
occasioned  by  unconscious  motives.  In  some  cases  a  series  of 
repressed  desires  integrate  into  a  sort  of  subconscious  personality. 
That  unconscious  desires  may  exist,  is  seen  in  cases  of  double 
or  multiple  personality  of  the  "Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde"  type. 
The  case  of  the  Reverend  Ansel  Bourse,  cited  by  Hart,  and 
Janet's  Irene  are  cases  in  point,  as  are  the  cases  studied  by  Prince. 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  377 

Dream  analysis,  as  developed  by  Freud,  furnishes  abundant  evi- 
dence of  the  unconscious,  as  most  of  the  dream  material  comes 
from  the  unconscious  state.  Another  illustration,  mentioned  by 
Frink,  is  that  of  a  man  who  was  exceptionally  violent  in  railing 
against  all  manifestations  of  authority.  The  exceptional  nature 
of  his  reaction  was  shown  upon  analysis  to  be  due  to  a  repressed 
feeling  against  a  very  dominating  and  authoritative  parent;  the 
repressed  feeling,  though  long  forgotten,  had  lived  on  in  the 
unconscious  since  early  childhood,  and  manifested  itself  in  an 
exceptional  rebellion  against  various  forms  of  authority.  The 
love  of  a  woman  for  a  pet  lap  dog  is  often  the  manifestation  of 
a  repressed,  and,  perhaps,  unconscious,  desire  for  children.  These 
illustrations  all  bear  evidence  of  a  body  of  desires  in  the  uncon- 
scious state.  The  fact  that  so  many  of  our  desires  come  from  the 
unconscious,  has  been  the  occasion  of  comparing  the  process  of 
their  functioning  to  that  of  a  magnet  placed  under  a  paper,  upon 
which  are  placed  iron  tacks.  The  tacks  move  when  the  magnet 
is  moved,  but  the  magnet,  the  force  which  causes  the  tacks  to 
move,  is  not  visible. 

REPRESSION.  Many  of  the  desires  of  the  unconscious  are 
there  because  they  are  repressed  from  the  field  of  consciousness. 
They  are  repressed  because  of  mental  conflicts.  In  a  particular 
case  there  is  a  conflict  between  perhaps  two  sets  of  desires,  one 
of  which  may  be  antisocial,  and  the  other  may  be  highly  in  ac- 
cord with  the  best  moral  tradition.  This  mental  conflict  causes 
pain  and  perhaps  a  loss  of  mental  energy.  Such  a  state  of  affairs 
is  intolerable  to  the  personality,  and  the  mind  acts  usually  ac- 
cording to  what  is  called  the  pleasure  principle,  that  is,  it  must 
find  its  pleasure  in  relief.  The  result  will  probably  be  that  the 
antisocial  desire  will  be  repressed  into  the  unconscious,  in  which 
it  continues  to  live  though  forgotten.  Much  forgetting  is  there- 
fore purposeful.  The  particular  repressing  agency  is  sometimes 
called  the  "censor"  or  "censure."  Thus,  professional  jealousy  is 
sometimes  so  successfully  repressed  that  one  does  not  admit  to 
himself  its  existence.  Similarly,  humiliating  experiences,  which 
are  painful  to  remember,  are  forgotten,  as  has  been  often  noted 
in  unsuccessful  love  affairs  which  involve  loss  to  one's  hopes  and 
ambitions,  or  one's  self-respect.  In  these  cases,  if  there  was 
not  repression  and  forgetting,  the  persons  would  suffer  greatly 
from  the  pain  of  the  mental  conflict.  The  case  of  Irene,  previ- 
ously referred  to,  although  of  a  pathological  nature,  shows  very 


378  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY  FOR 

clearly  the  phenomenon  of  repression.  This  young  woman  nursed 
during  a  long  illness,  her  mother,  to  whom  she  was  exceptionally 
devoted,  and  with  whom  her  future  was  quite  bound  up.  The 
mother  finally  died,  under  very  trying  and  impressive  circum- 
stances. But  for  days  at  a  time,  afterward,  the  daughter  seemed 
to  be  utterly  unaware  that  her  mother  was  dead.  Then  suddenly, 
perhaps  'during  a  conversation  with  friends,  she  would  become 
transformed  as  it  were,  and  reenact  with  consummate  histrionic 
skill  the  scene  at  her  mother's  death  bed,  living  it  over  in  minute 
detail,  all  during  which  she  would  be  oblivious  to  her  surround- 
ings. She  would  not  hear,  for  instance,  remarks  addressed  to 
her.  In  this  '.case  the  thought  of  her  mother's  being  dead  was  so 
unbearable  that  she  repressed  the  whole  complex  from  her  mind, 
and  most  successfully,  but  the  repression  was  not  perfect,  and 
suddenly  the  repressed  material  would  come  to  consciousness  and 
result  in  reenacting  the  deathbed  scenes.  Where  conflicts  are 
acute  and  intolerable,  and  the  repression  inadequate,  the  mind 
cannot  stand  the  strain  and  insanity  results.  This  analysis  of  the 
cause  of  the  psychological  insanity  is  described  by  Jung,  in  his 
analysis  of  a  maniacal  type,  the  archaelogist  from  the  University 

of  B .     Repressions  of  a  minor  scale  go  on  through  our 

daily  life.  Periods  of  very  great  repression  occur  in  late  child- 
hood. Such  desires  as  sex,  pugnacity,  or  selfishness  are  often  re- 
pressed ;  the  repressing  agency  is  usually  the  desires  that  accord 
with  popular  moral  sanction. 

THE  DISGUISED  ACTIVITY  OF  UNCONSCIOUS  DESIRES.  These 
repressed  unconscious  desires,  though  forgotten,  do  not  die, 
but  live  on,  and  they  endeavor  to  escape  the  repres- 
sion. Thus,  the  force  which  repressed  them  in  the  first  instance 
must  continually  keep  watch  lest  these  repressed  desires  break 
out  into  consciousness  and  express  themselves.  The  "censor" 
acts,  therefore,  as  if  continually  on  guard.  This  ^censorship"  is 
not  always  successful,  for  many  of  the  desires  escape.  This  they 
do  by  disguising  themselves,  very  much  as  a  Mexican  revolution- 
ist who  wants  to  buy  ammunition  may  cross  the  border,  disguised 
as  a  peasant  working  woman.  The  effectiveness  of  the  disguises 
of  repressed  instincts  explains  why  psychologists  were  not  fully 
aware  of  them  until  the  researches  of  the  psycho-analysist  ap- 
peared, and  the  illustrations  which  authors  cite  of  these  disguised 
desires  seem  so  unsound,  on  first  impression,  for  the  very  reason 
that  the  disguise  is  effective,  These  disguises  which  our  motives 


BUSINESS   EXECUTIVES  379 

assume  are  the  central  feature  of  this  paper,  because  of  the  thesis 
that  the  economic  motives  of  history  are  disguised.  A  number  of 
such  disguises,  therefore,  will  be  presented  in  detail,  to  show  their 
astounding  ingenuity,  their  very  great  prevalence,  and  the  ease 
and  skill  with  which  the  human  mind  can  perform  these  remark- 
able feats. 

DISPLACEMENT.  A  repressed  desire  may  escape  the  cen- 
sor by  displacing  the  true  objective  of  the  desire  by  a  substitution. 
Thus  Freud  tells  of  a  patient  who  was  irresistibly  compelled  to 
examine  the  number  of  every  bank  note  that  came  under  her 
observation.  She  knew  the  act  to  be  foolish,  yet  she  could  not 
help  doing  it,  and  suffered  acutely  because  of  this  compulsion. 
Upon  analysis  it  was  found  that  she  had  suffered  from  an 
unrequited  love  affair.  The  conflict  and  pain  which  arose  caused 
her  to  banish  the  painful  chapter  from  her  life,  and -she  forgot. 
The  repression  was  successful,  but  the  compulsion  neurosis 
appeared.  Further  analysis  showed  that  a  bank  note  played  a 
significant  part  in  this  love  chapter.  So  that  although  she 
repressed  the  desire,  it  was  never  dead,  and  made  a  partial  escape 
through  a  displacement  on  to  the  bank  note.  This  account  and 
explanation  appear  very  strange.  Yet,  that  such  explanations 
are  true  accounts,  seems  to  be  indicated  by  the  fact  that  cases 
are  cured  after  an  unmasking  of  the  disguise.  A  number  of 
such  strange  and  morbid  compulsions  have  been  similarly  ana- 
lyzed. A  more  ordinary  illustration  from  normal  behaviours, 
is  that  of  affectation  in  dress  or  gait.  Much  affectation  in  dress 
is  unconscious,  as  to  the  motive  or  particular  desire  expressed. 
One's  egotism  thus  conceals  itself  in  order  to  get  by  the  censor, 
through  a  displacement  upon  the  development  of  a  peculiar 
mannerism.  The  term  displacement  is  applied  usually  to  dis- 
placement of  words  or  word-ideas,  chiefly  in  connection  with 
dream  analysis  and  such  mental  behaviour  as  wit,  yet  the  term 
is  being  more  widely  used  to  cover  a  displacement  on  to  another 
kind  of  activity  in  such  a  manner  as  to  conceal  the  true  motive. 
Thus,  Frink  claims  a  child  with  a  strong  exhibitionist  tendency 
may  in  later  life  make  an  actor  on  the  stage.  The  exhibitionist 
tendency,  being  incompatible  with  current  morals,  is  repressed 
in  late  childhood,  and  later  finds  an  outlet  through  a  displace- 
ment in  histrionic  activities.  Similarly,  Freud  advances  the 
idea,  in  his  brilliant  study  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  that  Leonardo's 
great  scientific  interest  was  a  sublimated  sexual  curiosity  of 


38o  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY  FOR 

childhood.  Some  of  the  -disguises  here  called  displacement  are 
truly  marvelous,  and  certainly  at  first  hardly  believable. 

SYMBOLISM.  The  use  of  symbols  as  a  disguise  is  a  type 
of  displacement,  yet  so  prevalent  as  to  deserve  especial  mention. 
How  an  emotion  will  in  great  strength  become  concentrated 
upon  a  symbol  as  an  objective,  is  readily  seen  in  love  keepsakes, 
or  in  a  national  emblem,  like  a  flag.  There  is,  of  course,  in 
these  two  illustrations,  little  of  a  disguise  of  the  emotion,  except 
that  in  any  moment  of  response  to  a  symbol,  the  great,  full 
knowledge  of  the  emotion  cannot,  of  course,  be  in  consciousness. 
Many  symbols,  however,  are  complete  disguises.  Thus  clinical 
analyses  have  demonstrated  the  almost  universal  prevalence  of 
certain  sex  symbols,  such  as  the  snake,  the  sword,  and  horseback 
riding.  I  cannot  here  explain  how  these  are  sex  symbols,  but 
I  only  wish  to  state  that  all  students  of  psycho-analysis  agree 
that  these  are  sexual  disguises. 

PROJECTION.  Quite  a  different,  though  very  important, 
type  of  concealment,  is  known  as  projection.  In  this  case  a 
person  conceals  a  desire  by  projecting  it  on  to  others.  To  quote 
Hart,  in  his  Psychology  of  Insanity :  "Thus  the  parvenu,  who  is 
secretly  conscious  of  his  own  social  deficiencies,  talks  much  of 
"bounders"  and  "outsiders"  whom  he  observes  around  him,  while 
the  one  thing  which  the  muddle-headed  man  cannot  tolerate  is 
"a  lack  of  clear  thinking  in  other  people."  An  illustration  from 
Frink's  Morbid  Fears  and  Compulsions  is  that  of  an  attractive 
young  widow,  who  wished  to  move  from  a  small  town,  claiming 
to  be  annoyed  by  the  gossip  that  she  was  a  "designing  widow." 
There  was  really  no  substantial  evidence  of  gossip,  but,  upon 
analysis  it  was  shown  that  unconsciously  she  did  wish  to  re- 
marry, but  would  not  so  soon  admit  the  desire  to  consciousness, 
and  the  repressed  wish  expressed  itself  as  a  projection  on  to 
others.  The  reason  of  her  peculiar  disguise  was  this :  the  desire 
to  remarry  would  have  produced  a  conflict  with  her  social  code. 
To  permit  this  secret  wish  conscious  outlet  would  have  resulted 
in  abuse  of  herself,  because  of  the  social  code.  To  spare  herself 
this  pain  of  conflict,  she  projected  the  desire  on  to  the  small 
town  populace,  where  she  could  rebuke  it,  and  at  the  same  time 
spare  herself  the  pain  of  her  own  mental  conflict.  Much  of  the 
phenomena  of  paranoia  and  insanity,  involving  delusions  of 
persecution,  have  this  specific  otiology. 


BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES  381 

COMPENSATION.  The  analysis  of  the  disguise  known  as 
compensation  has  been  developed  particularly  by  Adler  in  his 
book,  The  Neurotic  Constitution.  The  idea  is  that  a  defect  or 
weakness  is  compensated  for  by  the  development  of  another 
organ  or  trait,  thus  a  leaky  heart  valve  is  partly  compensated 
for  by  the  strengthening  of  the  heart  muscle.  It  is  observed 
that  our  emotions  seem  to  occur  in  pairs,  love  and  hate,  fear 
and  anger,  humility  and  arrogance.  An  unusual  desire  of  one 
of  these  pairs  may  be  obscured  by  an  exaggeration  of  the 
opposite,  a  sort  of  imaginary  compensation  for  its  absence. 
Thus  we  are  sometimes  unusually  polite  and  courteous  to  persons 
we  do  not  like,  and  our  real  motive  is  disguised.  The  absence 
of  a  friendly  feeling  will  be  compensated  for  by  an  exaggeration 
of  courtesy.  A  very  common  form  of  compensation  frequently 
seen  in  clinics  among  neurotics  is  an  exaggerated  concern  for 
the  health  of  a  particular  person,  which  serves  to  cover  up  a 
secret  and,  perhaps,  unconscious  wish  of  a  contrary  nature.  A 
very  good  man,  professing  a  religion  of  humility,  will  some- 
times compensate  for  a  repressed  ego  by  a  developed  intolerance 
and  arrogance  in  the  name  of  goodness. 

RATIONALIZATION.  Perhaps  the  most  widely  used  dis- 
guise among  normal  persons  is  that  of  giving  a  fictitious,  but 
plausible,  explanation  for  conduct,  instead  of  giving  the  true 
reason  or  motive,  a  device  called  rationalization.  It  is  as 
though  we  do  what  we  want  to  do,  and  afterward  give  a  reason 
that  is  plausible  to  the  opinions  of  others,  as  well  as  to  the 
censor.  And  it  is  surprising  how  often  we  are  ignorant  of  the 
true  motive.  Thus  a  man  claimed  to  have  voted  for  President 
Wilson  because  of  the  President's  exceptional  ability,  but  analysis 
showed  the  real  reason  to  be  the  fact  that  the  man  was  really 
unconsciously  cowardly,  and  felt  that  Wilson  had  kept  us  out 
of  war.  A  man  will  go  fishing  on  Sunday  because  he  wants  to, 
but  gives  as  his  reason  the  fact  that  it  is  good  for  his  health. 
Perhaps  the  most  ingenious  of  all  rationalizations  are  those  of 
sufferers  from  persecutory  delusions.  I  knew  a  tailor  once,  who 
thought  enemies  were  going  to  do  him  harm.  A  bystander 
waiting  in  front  of  his  shop  was  planning  to  burn  his  shop.  A 
very  generous  customer  would  be  spying.  It  was  impossible 
to  convince  such  a  person  by  argument.  The  real  reason  of 
his  fear  was  inward  and  unknown  to  him,  and  not  the  behaviour 
of  the  bystander  or  the  customer.  Rationalizations  are  as 


382  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY  FOR 

prevalent,  though  on  a  different  scale,  among  normal  persons 
as  among  paranoiacs.  There  are  other  disguises,  such  as 
transference,  identification,  and  various  distortion  devices;  but 
as  they  are  seldom,  if  ever,  found  in  disguising  the  economic 
motives  of  history,  I  shall  not  illustrate  them.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  foregoing  list  of  mental  mechanisms  will  have  shown  the 
really  remarkable  and  astounding  feats  which  the  mind  will 
perform  to  disguise  motives,  and  that  the  presentation  will  give 
some  hint  of  their  great  prevalence  in  human  behaviour.  It  is 
the  scientific  determination  of  these  various  disguises  which  is 
the  great  contribution  of  psycho-analysis  for  the  theory  of  the 
economic  motivation  of  history.  For  if  the  human  mind  so 
lavishly  disguises  our  various  motives,  the  theory  that  economic 
motives  of  history  are  disguised  does  not  appear  so  incredible. 
Economists  have  claimed  that  sugar  partly  caused  the  Spanish 
American  war,  and  Boudin  has  claimed  the  selling  of  textiles 
made  the  peace  epoch  of  the  Gladstone  era,  while  the  selling  of 
iron  brought  the  warlike  spirit  of  the  present  day.  Whether 
these  particular  illustrations  be  true  or  not,  they  may  not  seem 
so  incredible  when  we  recall  that  a  love  motive  finds  an  outlet 
in  an  obsession  to  examine  the  numbers  on  bank  notes,  and  that 
a  childish  sexual  curiosity  finds  an  outlet  in  scientific  research. 
Turning  now  to  the  analysis  of  the  economic  side  of  the 
paper,  it  is  claimed  that  the  economic  causes  of  history  are  in 
large  part  unrecognized,  which  means  that  they  are  at  least 
partially  disguised.  Before  considering  the  particular  disguises 
affected,  it  is  desirable  to  analyze  what  the  economic  motives 
are  and  why  they  are  disguised.  The  economic  motive  is  essen- 
tially selfish.  Selfishness,  of  course,  finds  many  other  modes  of 
expression  than  the  economic.  The  analysis  of  this  paper  does 
not  imply,  however,  that  all  economic  motives  are  selfish,  nor 
that  every  selfish  economic  motive  is  against  the  common  welfare. 
Nor  does  the  validity  of  the  thesis  depend  on  what  particular 
percentage  of  selfish  motive  is  readily  seen  when  we  observe  that 
we  are  loath  to  admit  a  selfish  motive  but  are  proud  to  display 
an  altruistic  or  a  righteous  one.  The  reason  for  this  difference 
in  attitude  between  so-called  altruistic  and  selfish  motives  arises 
from  the  fact  that  a  certain  amount  of  subordination  of  self 
must  be  made  for  the  common  good.  There  seems  to  be  thus 
a  conflict  between  immediate  selfish  interests  and  common  wel- 
fare. The  selfish  tendencies  are  kept  in  bounds  by  what  Ross 


BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES  383 

and  Giddings  call  social  control,  by  what  Trotter  calls  the  herd 
instinct,  and  by  what  Sumner  calls  the  mores.  We  can  all  see 
that  if  each  individual  pursued  self-centeredly  and  short-sightedly 
his  own  selfish  impulses,  group  survival  would  be  impossible. 
As  to  how  and  why  this  is  so,  we  owe  much  to  the  researches 
of  social  psychology  within  the  past  decade.  In  society,  there- 
fore, there  is  a  conflict  between  collective  selfishness  and  group 
welfare.  This  social  control  or  mores  or  gregarious  instinct  acts 
as  a  sort  of  censor,  and  represses  a  good  many  selfish  ten- 
dencies, and  elicits  praise  for  altruistic  ones.  Motives  of  col- 
lective selfishness  are  in  a  way  repressed  into  the  unconscious 
state.  That  is,  we  do  not  openly  admit  them,  and  the  censorship 
is  so  great  at  times  that  we  actually  forget  them.  But  because 
we  refuse  to  recognize  them  or  forget  them  is  not  proof  that 
they  may  not  exist.  Certainly  some  of  them  live  on  and  function 
in  collective  movements  through  disguises.  In  other  words,  the 
same  mechanisms  of  conflict,  censor,  and  disguise  operate  in  the 
repression  and  escape  of  collective  selfishness  as  were  discovered 
by  psycho-analysis  to  be  so  prevalent  in  sexual  behaviour.  The 
above  reasoning  sounds  dangerously  like  reasoning  by  analogy, 
and  suggests  some  of  those  ill-fated  attempts  of  earlier  days  to 
apply  the  mechanism  of  physics  to  sociology.  But  I  do  not 
think  that  this  is  reasoning  by  analogy.  In  fact,  I  am  attempting 
to  show  how  two  kinds  of  phenomena  are  based  upon  the  same 
fundamental  psychological  mechanism. 

It  should  also  be  noted  here  that  there  is  nothing  mystical 
in  the  working  of  these  mechanisms  collectively.  No  special 
entity,  as  the  social  mind,  with  special  mental  laws  is  implied. 
The  way  these  mechanisms  of  individual  persons  work  out 
collectively  is  somewhat  as  follows.  In  a  particular  population 
of  say  a  million,  there  will  perhaps  be  only  several  thousand 
who  are  selfishly  and  economically  interested  in  a  movement. 
These  thousands  being  in  positions  of  influence  will  be  able 
perhaps  to  prepare  "copy,"  so  to  speak,  for  the  population,  and 
large  numbers  who  are  not  acutely  affected  one  way  or  another 
accept  the  prepared  opinions.  Trotter  has  shown  that  there  is 
very  much  more  accepting  of  prepared  opinions  by  us  than  the 
most  sophisticated  of  us  suspect.  And  of  these  thousands  who  are 
economically  interested  perhaps  only  a  small  percentage,  say 
ten  or  twenty  per  cent  or  less,  are  clearly  conscious  of  the  true 
nature  of  their  selfish  desires.  Perhaps  eighty  or  ninety  per 
cent  or  more,  depending  of  course  on  the  particular  occasion 


384  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY  FOR 

or  the  nature  of  the  movement,  will  partially  or  completely 
disguise  the  economic  motive  by  some  of  the  processes  outlined. 
These  disguised  motives  will  be  much  more  readily  accepted  by 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  citizens  not  acutely  affected.  And 
thus  we  have  the  collective  phenomena  occasioned  by  the  oper- 
ation of  individual  mechanism. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  EXPLANATION  OF 
MEN'S  PECULIARITIES1 

\  \^The  present  condition  of  industrial  unrest  has  been  widely 
attributed  to  the  recent  war.  \  When  the  life  of  a  nation  is  at 
stake,  overstrain  is  to  some  extent  inevitable;  and  when  "peace" 
has  been  signed,  the  effects  of  such  overstrain  cannot  fail  to  mani- 
fest  themselves.  The  writer  is  himself  acquainted  with  the  man- 
aging director  of  a  factory  who,  with  his  work's  manager,  burst 
into  tears  when  the  latter  came  to  him  with  the  news  of  the 
armistice.  The  editor  of  an  important  London  newspaper  com- 
plained that  his  assistants  were  breaking  down  one  after  the  other 
when  the  strain  of  warfare  was  at  an  end,  and  were  so  sensitive 
that  even  the  mildest  rebuke  provoked  an  outburst  of  emotion. 
We  have  ample  evidence,  from  official  inquiries,  that  during  the 
war,  the  factory  workers  complained  of  feeling  "stale,"  "nervy," 
"done  up,"  "fairly  whacked,"  especially  during  the  earlier  years 
when  excessively  long  hours,  the  Sunday  labor  and  a  large  amount 
of  overtime,  were  so  widely  adopted.  It  is  now  realised  that 
those  conditions  of  work  were  economically  unsound,  and  that 
a  far  greater  output  would  have  been — and  indeed  in  the  later 
years  of  the  war  was — secured  by  the  proper  regulation  of  work- 
ing hours,  the  dangers  of  over-strain  being  correspondingly 
lessened. 

3>  /7  Thuslunrest  arises  not  so  much  from  merely  physical  over- 
strain as  from  the  effect  of  worries  and  mental  conflicts  of  all 
kinds,  e.g.,  the  unsatisfactory  conditions  of  modern  industrial 
employment  and  its  failure  to  satisfy  the  natural  instincts  and 
emotions  which  have  consequently  to  be  suppressed.  \Home 
troubles,  dating  often  from  early  childhood,  become  frequent 
sources  of  worry.  Such  worries  produce  their  effect  especially 

1  Charles    S.    Myers.      Mind   and   Work.     p.    137-49-     G-    **•    Putnam's 
Sons.     New  York  and   London.    1921. 


BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES  385 

when  sown  on  a  favourable  soil.  This  soil  has  been  called  the 
"psychopathic  disposition" — an  innate  tendency  to  mental  insta- 
bility, sensitivity  and  discontentment,  and  to  erratic  mental 
development. 

p.  However  provoked,  such  mental  instability  provokes  indus- 
trial unrest,  not  only  general  but  also  individual.  The  mentally 
unstable  employee  is  an  irritant  to  his  fellows,  and  a  nuisance 
to  the  management.  His  kind  is  responsible  for  much  of  the 
existing  unemployment  and  labor  turnover.  Ever  restless  him- 
self, he  is  continually  being  discharged  from  one  job  to  another 
as  a  worthless  worker.  He  becomes  more  and  more  unfitted  for 
a  normal  environment,  and  finally  joins  the  ranks  of  the 
unemployable,  the  alcoholic,  the  criminal  or  the  insane. 

We  now  know  that,  by  the  timely  application  of  psycho- 
therapeutic  measures  (based  on  the  recent  developments  of 
abnormal  psychology)  and  by  a  judicious  selection  of  environ- 
ment, such  workers  can,  like  early  tuberculosis  patients,  be  pre- 
vented from  going  downhill;  many  of  the  emotionally  unstable 
can  be  healed ;  and  many  of  those  with  insane  "egocentric" 
tendencies  or  with  defective  intelligence  can  be  prevented  from 
m^ng_a_danger  to  themselves  or  to  society. 

It  would  be  absurd,  then,  to  attribute  the  present  industrial 
unrest  merely  to  the  strain  of  warfare.  Such  unrest  existed, 
though  by  many  unrecognized,  long  before  the  war.  It  was 
becoming  more  intense  during  the  period  immediately  preceding 
the  war.  Employers  and  employees  had,  by  then,  become  definitely 
solidified  into  separate  groups,  each  imbued  with  what  has  been 
termed  its  own  "herd  spirit,"  each  developing  purposely  or 
instinctively  its  own  defences,  each  resolved  to  defend  its  own 
position  and  to  demolish  that  of  the  other  "herd." 

The  weapons  of  defense  and  attack  used  in  such  industrial 
warfare  may  be  well  seen  in  a  comparison  of  the  standpoints  of 
the  extremists  on  the  two  sides  today.  The  extremist  employer, 
refusing  to  "face  the  facts"  of  modern  industrial  conditions, 
insists  on  keeping  labor  "in  its  proper  place."  He  claims  the 
right  to  deal  as  he  pleases  with  the  men  whom  he  employs. 
He  resents  interference  from  outside  sources.  He  denies  any 
responsibility  for  the  welfare  of  his  workers;  their  duty  being 
to  work,  his  to  pay  them  wages.  If  he  has  been  "through  the 
mill"  himself,  he  argues  that,  "what  was  good  enough  for  me 
when  I  was  a  lad  is  good  enough  for  you  now."  He  objects  to 


386  PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY  FOR 

any  improvements  in  education  or  other  social  conditions  on 
the  ground  that  they  make  the  worker  more  discontented  with 
his  lot.  He  regards  labor  as  inevitable  drudgery,  and  as  a 
commodity  purchasable  according  to  the  strict  laws  of  supply 
and  demand.  His  aim  is  frankly  to  "score  off"  it  whenever 
possible,  and  to  break  up  the  trade  unions  which  oppose  his 
unfettered  progress  at  every  step.  "Let  others  rise  as  he  has 
risen"  is  his  motto— and  the  "devil  take  the  hindmost."  He 
looks  upon  the  trade  unions  as  hostile  associations  bent  on 
getting  for  their  members  as  high  wages  for  as  little  work  as 
possible  and  robbing  him  of  what  he  considers  the  just  fruits 
of  his  enterprise.  He  argues  that  if  the  workers  pursue  their 
present  policy  of  restriction  in  output,  he  has  the  same  right 
to  restrict  their  pay  and  their  control  over  industry.  He  may 
long  ago  have  achieved  the  ideal  for  which  he  set  out — of 
making  a  fortune;  his  continuance  as  an  employer  now  being 
due  to  an  unquenchable  thirst  for  industrial  adventure,  greater 
power  and  fresh  conquests. 

The  extremist  employee,  armed  with  "defense  mechanisms" 
against  his  feelings  of  inferiority  or  self-respect,  smarting  under 
injustice,  imagined  or  actual,  presents  a  similarly  "impossible" 
attitude.  Why,  he  asks,  should  I  increase  my  power  of  produc- 
tion, if  so  large  a  share  in  the  resulting  profits  goes  to  the 
capitalist?  Why  is  it  necessary  for  the  capitalist  to  reap  enor- 
mous interest  on  his  capital  without  serious  risk,  if  he  is  willing 
to  lend  money  to  the  state  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent?  Why 
should  I  be  in  favor  of  motion  study,  if  it  is  going  to  force  me 
into  a  monotonous  routine  method  of  work  and  to  transfer  all 
my  craft  knowledge  and  skill  from  my  possession  to  the  depart- 
ment of  management?  What  is  the  use  of  talking  to  me  of 
vocational  selection,  until  my  "unfit"  comrades  are  secured  from 
unemployment,  and  until  true  vocations  have  been  established 
throughout  the  world  of  labor?  Does  the  textile  industry,  for 
example,  offer  a  properly  organized  vocational  system,  when 
fifty  per  cent  of  the  boys  who  enter  it  are  said  to  leave  it 
before  they  reach  the  age  of  twenty-two?  Do  you  call  the 
work  of  a  postman  or  a  porter  a  vocation?  What  chances  are 
offered  in  such  occupations  for  escape  from  a  soulless  life  of 
unrelieved  monotony?  Are  high  productivity,  good  wages  and 
short  hours  the  ultimate  objects  of  human  existence,  or  should 
not  the  worker  aim  at  a  fuller,  more  interesting  and  intellectual 


BUSINESS  EXECUTIVES  387 

life,  and  in  the  exercise  of  the  higher  duties  of  citizenship?  Is  it 
inevitable  that  rulers  and  ruled  should  continue  to  exist  as  two 
distinct  and  opposing  classes,  and  that  the  former  should  be  in  a 
position  to  skim  off  from  the  latter  all  the  cream  of  leadership 
and  ability  in  the  schools,  factories  or  businesses,  for  admission 
into  their  own  class  and  for  desertion  from  the  ranks  into  which 
they  were  born?  As  a  worker,  I  demand  an  adequate  share  in 
the  control  of  the  work  in  which  I  am  engaged,  just  as  I  have 
a  vote  in  the  government  of  my  country.  I  refuse  to  remain  a 
mere  "hand" ;  I  want  to  use  my  brain.  Only  then  am  I  prepared 
to  consider  the  application  of  scientific  organization  and  man- 
agement. Before  this  can  be  done,  the  whole  social  fabric 
needs  reconstruction. 


INDEX 


Adler,  Herman  P.,  352 

Alcoholism,   349 

Americanization,  227;  the  mind 
of  the  alien,  237  ff.;  and  manage- 
ment, 243;  and  oppression  psy- 
chosis, 244;  and  social  contacts, 
247;  and  industrial  environment, 
249;  and  labor  maintenance,  249; 
committees,  250 

American  Federation  of  Labor,  88, 
98,  156 

Army  tests,  44  ff.,  270,  285.  See 
also  Psychological  tests 

Aristotle,  62 

Aronqvici,   Carol,   247 

Associations,    human,    119 

Attitudes,  of  business  men,  i ;  of 
workers,  97,  131 

Autocratic  government  of  industry, 
"3,  I3S,  i45  ff-;  losses  from,  150 

Automatic   machinery,    64 

Babson,    Roger    W.,   91 

Balked  instincts,   57;    and  turnover, 

59»  J95-6;  of  contrivance,  63,  231; 

repressions,    58;     results    of,    58, 

60,   6 1 

Ball,  Jau   Don,   340 
Bassett,   William   R.,    168 
Behavioristic  psychology,   5 
Beliefs,   106 

Bloomfield,   Daniel,   231,   249 
Bloomfield,  Meyer,  297 
Bogardus,    Emory  S.,   246 
Booker,  John  Manning,  229 
Brierley,   Susan    S.,    97 
Bryce,    James,    32 

Casual  labor,  57,  59;  causes  of,  67, 
197,  202;  characteristics  of  casual 
laborer,  68  ff. ;  industrial  waste 
of,  66;  relation  of  training,  200, 
203;  solutions,  215  ff 

Cecil,    Lord    Robert,    145 

Censor,  the,   377 

Chapman,   J.   Crosby,    292 

Character  deficiencies,  347.  See 
Pathology 

Clark,  Walter  E.,   35 

Closed  shop,  94 

Collective  bargaining,  93;  2nd  Na- 
tional Industrial  Conference  fa- 
vors, 140;  and  wages,  148;  Cyrus 
McCormick,  Jr.  on,  163;  Gary, 
Judge  E.  H.  on,  136;  labor's 
purposes  in,  150 

Commons,  John  R.,  123,  221,  253, 
306 

Compensation,  381 


Complex,    359 

Conference,  President  Wilson's  Sec- 
ond Industrial,  138 

Conklin,    Edwin    Grant,    6 

Constellation  of  ideas,   359 

Cooley,   Charles  Horton,   22 

Cooperation,  85,  126,  146;  enlisting, 
92 

Creative  instinct,  the,  101  ff.,  171; 
arousing,  104;  in  machine  pro- 
duction, 112,  140;  repression  of, 
113,  231 

Credit  system,  relation  to  unem- 
ployment, 306  ff 

Crowd   behavior,    117,    120   ff 

Defense  mechanisms,  386;  See 
Pathology;  also  Balked  instincts 

Democracy,  and  morale,  142;  in  in- 
dustry, n,  33,  51;  relative  effi- 
ciency of,  141,  164,  165 

Dennison,  manufacturing  company, 
303 

Dewing,   Arthur   Stone,    27 

Desire   for    recognition,    152,    166 

Displacement,   379 

Disque,   Brice  P.,  214 

Douglas,   Paul,    193 

Education,  and  interest,  178,  182. 
See  Industrial  education 

Efficiency,  and  intelligence,  46;  and 
incentives,  189  ff.;  committees, 
168;  relation  of  psychology,  49 

Emotional  instability,  354  ff 

Employee  representation,  92,  159, 
163,  166,  168  ff 

Engineering,  human,  12.  See  Man- 
agement 

Evolution   of   mind,    37 

Executive  management.  See  Man- 
agement 

Fatigue,  and  accidents,  314;  and 
efficiency,  311  ff.,  326;  and 
monotony,  318,  321;  and  malnu- 
trition, 13;  applications,  325; 
bodily,  317;  control  of  factors, 
328;  economic  costs,  312;  nerv- 
ous and  mental,  318;  pathological, 
321,  346,  351.  See  Overstrain  and 
pathology,  mental,  prevention  of, 
320  ff.;  reduction  of,  333  ff. ; 
signs  and  symptoms,  317;  unnec- 
essary, 311 

Fear,  131,  134,  175,  210,  332;  and 
aggressiveness,  300;  and  indus- 
trial strains,  301;  and  interest, 
302;  and  output,  302;  discipline, 
297;  of  unemployment,  297,  298 


390 


INDEX 


Federal  Commissions  on  Industrial 
Relations,  report  of,  154  ff 

Filene,   A.    Lincoln,   49 

Filene,    cooperative    association,    39 

Filene,   William,   39 

Fisher,   Boyd,   204 

Fisher,    Irving,    101,    141 

Floating  workers,  66.  See  Casual 
labor 

Food,  instinct   for,    13 

Frank,    Glenn,    142 

Franfurter,    Felix,    144 

Frey,   John    P.,    152,    155 

Gary,  Judge  E.  H.,   135 

Gilbreth,    Frank    B.,    311,    367;    Lit 

lian  M.,  311,  367 
Gleason,    Arthur,    69 
Goddard,    Henry    Herbert,   44 
Goldmark,   Josephine,    326 
Gompers,  Samuel,  70,  150,  154 
Good-will,    n,    162,    184 
Great   society,   the    59 
Gregariousness,  20,    117  ff 
Group  behavior,   125 
Group    mind,    the,     120;    in    armies, 

121 ;    and    restriction    of    output, 

123   ff 

Habits,  fixity  of,  42;  selected,  40 

Hall,  G.  Stanley,  n,  36 

Hammond,  John  Hays,  92 

Hart,    Bernard,    357 

Health,  and  efficiency,  315;  and 
fatigue,  313 

Healy,  William,  359 

Herd,  instincts  of,  117  ff. ;  charac- 
teristics of,  118,  119;  relation  to 
behavior,  357.  See  Gregarious- 
ness;  Also  Group  mind 

Hodges,  Frank,  95 

Hollingworth,   H.    L.,   266 

Hoover,  Herbert,   119,    140 

Housing  conditions,  248 

Hoxie,  Robert  F.,  147,  155 

Huber  Unemployment  Prevention 
Bill,  307,  308 

Human  nature,  9;  and  individual 
specialization,  20 

Humidity,323,  329 

Identification,  382 

Immigrant  labor,  237  ff. ;  skill  of, 
239;  relation  to  production,  238  ft 

Incentives,  99,  125;  administration 
of,  128;  and  interest,  171  ff. ;  in- 
adequacy of  wage,  127  ff.,  179; 
importance  of  financial,  176;  non- 
financial,  171  ff.,  187 

Individual  differences,  19,  63,  271; 
and  job  analysis,  290;  and 
monotony,  64;  in  learning  pro- 
cesses, 293  ff. ;  in  mental  path- 
ology, 353;  in  mental  tests,  275 
ff. ;  psychology  of,  265,  384 

Industrial  democracy,  n,  33,  51,  89, 
94.  MI,  142.  See  Management, 
participation  in 

Industrial  education,  253  ff 


Industrial  Relations  Association  of 
America,  130 

Inferiority,    sense    of,    78,    79 

Inge,   Dean,   69 

Instincts,  and  discipline,  88;  and  in- 
dividual differences,  19,  63;  and 
industrial  control,  143;  and  in- 
telligence, 8  ff.  ;  and  social  pres- 
sure, 9,  358;  as  prime  movers, 
6,  87;  balked,  5?  ff.  See  Balked 
instincts,  classification  of,  7,  63  ; 
creative,  101  ff.  ;  disintegrative,  8; 
gregarious,  9,  20,  117  ff.  ;  in- 
tegrating factors  in  society,  6;  of 
contrivance,  63,  65;  of  curiosity, 
17;  of  ownership,  15;  parental, 
14;  Tightness  of,  10;  satisfied,  and 
efficiency,  87  ff.,  184;  self-preser- 
vation, 143;  sublimation  of,  14; 
the  subconscious,  364;  univer- 
sality of,  7,  63 

Intelligence,  classification  of,  45; 
levels  of,  44;  tests.  See  Psy- 
chological 

Interest,  and  education,  176,  178, 
254;  and  efficiency,  no  ff.,  179; 
and  incentives,  171  ff.,  188;  and 
promotions,  180;  arousing,  171, 
177,  181;  dominant,  of  workers, 


James,  William,  41 

Jarrett,    Mary    C.,    338,    341,    347 

Jenks,  Jeremiah  W.,  35 

Job   analysis,   290 

Job,    the    importance   to   worker,    73 

ff.,    297,    298 
Johnson,    James    F.,    255 

Kelley,    Roy  W.,   257,   289 
Kellor,  Frances,  238 
Kimball,  Harry  W.,  202 
Kitson,  Harry  D.,  177,  293 

Labor    market,    199 

Laissez-faire,   137 

Leaders,   78 

Leadership,  227;  and  democracy,  86 

Lee,   Frederick   S.,   328 

Lescohier,   Don   D.,    196 

Lighting,  323,   333 

Link,    Henry  C.,   280 

Loyal  Legion  of  Loggers  and  Lum- 

bermen, 218 
Loyalty.     See   Morale 

Machine  industry,  57  ff.  ;  psycho- 
logical effects,  143;  social  effects 
of,  97 

Malnutrition    and    migration,    13 

Man,     original    nature    of,    9 

Management,    absentee,    93;    and   in- 

itiative,    89    ff.  ;     and     incentives, 

125  ff.;  and  service,  34,  210;  and 

unrest,    81    ff.  ;    and    the    creative 

instinct,    107;    challenges    to,    33; 

Charles  W.   Schwab  on,   109;  ex- 

ecutive,   31;    fatigue    and    health, 

316;   in  Americanization,  250;  of 


INDEX 


391 


White  Motors,  224;  participation 
in,  93,  95,  96,  108,  115,  138,  139, 
145,  152,  162,  214;  labor's  atti- 
tude toward,  98  ff. ;  relation  of 
fear,  210  ff.;  responsibility  for 
right  relations,  139;  scientific,  52; 
self-assertive,  135  ff. ;  traditional, 
53;  workers'  attitude  toward,  42, 
152;  worker's  contribution  to, 
140;  worker's  interest  in,  92 

Marot,     Helen,     102 

Marshall,    L.    C.,    125 

McCormick,  Cyrus,  Jr.,   162 

McDougall,    William,    6,    120 

Meeker,   Royal,    159 

Mental   conflict,    359,    377 

Mental  hygiene.  See  Pathology, 
mental;  also  Psychiatry 

Metcalf,   Henry  C.,    171 

Migratory  workers.  See  Casual 
labor 

Misfits,  352 

Monotony,  64,  161,  172  ff.,  193,  316; 
and  fatigue,  .119;  physiology  of, 
326 

Morale,  and  democracy,  142;  and 
fear,  210;  and  food,  13,  14;  and 
group  spirit,  122;  and  unemploy- 
ment, 213,  297;  and  unemploy- 
ment insurance,  84  ff. ;  building, 
209  ff. ;  maintenance  of,  221  ff 

Morals,   relation   to   work,    74 

Mores,  37;  inertia  of,  38;  author- 
ity of,  39 

Morgan,    John    J.     B.,     179 

Motives,  22,  69;  classified,  27  ff.; 
economic,  23,  71,  72;  in  big  busi- 
ness, 27;  pecuniary,  insufficient, 
26,  127;  self  expression,  24.  See 
also  Incentives 

Muscio,    Bernard,    131 

Myers,  Charles   S.,   275,   325,   384 

New  York  Times,   137 
Non-financial    incentives,     127,     187. 
See    Incentives 

Ogburn,   William    F.,    375 

Open  shop,   135 

Organized  labor,  70,  94,  98,  152  ff. ; 
attitude  toward  welfare  work, 
232.  See  Unions 

Overstrain,  315,  3*7,  319-  See  Path- 
ology, mental 

Overtime,  330 

Parker,   Carleton    H.,    57,    102 

Paternalism,   80,    164 

Pathology,  mental,  175,  243  ff.,  337 
ff.;  in  strikes,  340;  opinions  on, 
344  ff. ;  relation  to  instincts,  357 
ff.;  shell  shock,  372  ff.;  type 
cases,  342  ff. ;  types  of,  340,  367  ff 

Pear,  T.  H.,  372 

Persons,   Harlow   S.,  42 

Polakov,    Walter    N.,    333 

Powers,  M.  J.,   364 

Projection,    380 


Promotion,    76,    193;    policy,    195 
Psychiatry,    337,    341;    and    individ- 
ual   differences,    345;    applications 
of,   350,    352;    relation    to  medical 
science,  338.      See  Pathology 
Psychological   tests,   265   ff.;  applica- 
tions of,  275  ff. ;  in  vocational  se- 
lection,    280     ff.;     limitations     of, 
293;    selection    by,    266    ff . ;    types 
of,    271    ff.,    281;    use    of,    289; 
vocational    values,    286 
Psychological   mechanism,    375 
Psychology  of  workers,   161 
Psychoses,     industrial,     59;     oppres- 
sion, 243.    See  Pathology,  mental; 
also  Balked  instincts 

Race    problems,    245 

Racial   qualities,   238,  242 

Rationalization,    381 

"Reasonable    satisfaction,"    69 

Record    charts,    103,    190 

Religious    education,    247 

Repetitive    operations,    70 

Repression,  58,  377;  and  fear,  301; 
and  interest  in  work,  174;  defi- 
nition, 360;  results  of  78,  79,  "3- 
See  Balked  instincts 

Responsibility  worker's  desire  for, 
i  Hi  J59 

Rest  periods,   335 

Restriction  of  output,  and  fatigue, 
312,  320;  and  instinct  of  contri- 
vance, 65;  attitude  of  unions, 
148;  by  groups,  123  ff.;  fear  in 
relation  to,  303;  insecurity  of  em- 
ployment, 124  ff.;  motives  for, 
77,  124 

Rewards,  90.    See  Incentives 

Rivers,  W.  H.  R.,  299 

Rockefeller,  John  D.,  Jr.,   165 

Schwab,  Charles  W.,  109  ff 

Scientific  management,  labor's  ^atti- 
tude toward,  132,  153,  154.  156; 
personal  relationships,  52;  prin- 
ciples of,  56,  81;  recognition  of 
individuality,  54  ff 

Scott,  Walter  Dill,  5,  265,  290 

Seasonal  industries,  193,  3°4 

Security  of  employment,  50;  and 
fear,  297  ff. ;  and  morale,  210, 
213,  297;  relation  to  banking,  306; 
scientific  management,  133 

Self-assertion,    88 

Self-expression  24  ff.,  106,  114,  164, 
172,  192,  229,  256 

Self-respect,  91,  229 

Service,  a  function  of  management, 
34;  recognition  of,  212;  service 
work,  226.  See  also  Welfare 
work 

Shop  committees,  and  right  relations, 
51.  139.  168;  and  means  of  edu- 
cation, 18.  See  Management 

Simons,   A.    S.,    181 

Skill   in  machine  industry,  64 

Slichter,    Summer    H.,    209 

Smith,   G.   Elliott,   372 


392 


INDEX 


Solidarity   of   labor   groups,    131    ff.; 

under  scientific   management,    134 
Southard,  E.  E.,  337 
Spaeth,    Reynold   A.,    320 
Speeding   up,   89,    149 
Speek,    P.    A.,    66 
Strikes,   92 
Subconscious,   the,    12,    361,   363   ff., 

376  ff 

Sumner,  William  G.,  37 
Swift,   Edgar  James,   39,  88 
Symbolism,    380 

Tansley,    A.    G.,    363 

Task  work,    132,   133,   324 

Taussig,   F.  W.,   63 

Taylor,   Frederick  W.,  56,    127,    186 

Taylor  system,  the,  71;  a  deficiency 

of,    185 

Tead,  Ordway,  102,  171,  302 
Thorndike,    Edward    L.,    9,    286 
Time  study,   324 
Todd,   Arthur  J.,    104 
Trade  Tests,  270,  285;  function  of, 

292.      See    also    Army    test    and 

psychological    tests 
Tradition,   39.     See  Mores 
Training,  200;  department,  258.    See 

Industrial  education 
Transference,    382 
Trotter,   William,    117 
Turnover,  193  ff.,  223;  and  fatigue, 

322;   and   industrial   abuses,    196; 

causes  of,   193  ff.,   197;  reduction 

of,  204  ff.;  worker's  attitude,  201 

Unconscious,  desires,  378.  See  Sub- 
conscious 

Unemployment,  and  pathology,  men- 
tal, 352,  385,  ff.  See  Security  of 
employment;  also  Huber  Bill 

Unemployment  insurance,  in  Eng- 
land, 83,  84 

Unions,  70,  86,  127,  137,  139,  152, 
232;  Bassett,  William  R.  on,  168  ff.; 


Gary,  Judge  E.  H.  on,  135  ff . ; 
Hoxie,  Robert  F.  on,  147  ff 
Unrest,  and  balked  instincts,  57; 
and  industrial  relations,  144;  and 
insecurity  of  employment,  125, 
299;  and  malnutrition,  13;  and 
mental  conflict,  384;  and  morale, 
209  ff. ;  and  welfare  work,  230; 
pathological,  350;  psychic  origin, 
12;  R.  W.  Wolf  on,  in  ff.;  rea- 
sons for,  159,  1 60;  Second  In- 
dustrial Conference  on,  138;  sci- 
entific inquiry  into,  81 

Ventilation,    323,    329 

Vestibule  school,  261 

Vocational    guidance,    276 

Vocational  selection,  266;  "by  psy- 
chological tests,  280  ff.  See  Psy- 
chological tests 

Volition,    294 

Wages,  and  unrest,  50,  82,  194;  re- 
sult of  bargaining,  148.  See  In- 
centives 

Wallace,   L.   W.,   33 

Wallas,    Graham,    59 

Waste,  industrial,  due  to  balked 
disposition,  66  ff 

Watson,    John    B.,    332 

Webb,    Sidney    and    Beatrice,    95 

Welfare  work,  229  ff.;  essential  con- 
ditions of,  231;  administration  of, 
234 

Will,   104  ff 

Williams,  Whiting,  71,  298 

Wilson,  William  B.,  91 

Wolf,    Robert    B.,    102,    no,    187 

Wood,    Charles    W.,    109 

Work,   therapeutic   value   of,    374 

Working  conditions,  worker's  part  in 
determining,  85 

Yerkes,   R.   M.,  285 
Yoakum,  C.  S.,  285 


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